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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30015627">Snow</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chocolian/pseuds/Chocolian'>Chocolian</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>OMORI (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Humor, Bullying, Christmas, Dancing, Drama &amp; Romance, Dreams and Nightmares, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Drama, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Forgiveness, Grief/Mourning, Ice Skating, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Love Confessions, Music, Post-Good Ending (OMORI), Psychological Horror, Self-Acceptance, Self-Hatred, Sunburn, Teen Romance, sunny goes through more emotional troubles because this writer is sadistic as fuck djfhgdfghfg</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:54:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>62,040</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30015627</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chocolian/pseuds/Chocolian</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They forgave him. Forgave him of something terrible that happened that day. But can he find it in him to forgive himself?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aubrey &amp; Basil &amp; Hero &amp; Kel &amp; Sunny (OMORI), Aubrey/Sunny (OMORI), Hero/Mari (OMORI), Kel &amp; Sunny (OMORI)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>616</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>591</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Hospital</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi! First time writing for this site (literally just joined a few minutes ago hAHA) and of course it's based on the game that makes me want to cuddle my blankets and cry into them, and of course it's based on the one ship that I have sunk deep into the abyss for. :'D</p>
<p>Just a heads-up, while most of it takes place in the nightmares, there are some sequences of horrific imagery, some of it possibly having some minor-to-moderate gore, and if any of that isn't your thing, feel free to skip ahead to the chapters that does not contain them. I'll usually make notes like this one to denote which ones contain such imagery. Some of it was enough to make me look at myself in the mirror and think about myself mentally.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I hope you all enjoy! ^^/</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>“I have to tell you something.”</strong>
</p>
<hr/><p>The weight of those words still permeated deeply within Sunny’s mind, and it was obvious that whether they forgave him or not for what really happened to Mari that fateful, horrible day, the words that escaped his lips in that hospital room were going to be a memory for him, for better or for worse.</p><p>The group was rightfully stunned, horrified, and confused with the revelation.</p><p>Kel was the first to forgive Sunny, only fitting as he was the first to even get Sunny out the door of his house in the first place. “H-Hey… it’s okay, Sunny… we’re here…” He remembered Kel’s reassurance as Sunny wept on the tile in Basil’s room that day.</p><p>Hero took a bit of time at first. He felt the shock of knowing that Sunny killed the love of his life constrict around his thoughts, ranging from a slight relapse of anger like when he snapped at Kel, to remembering the facts. Sunny and Basil… they were just <em>kids</em>. He knew Sunny didn’t mean to do it, that he was just a scared young boy who may have done something really bad (to put it lightly) but was still as much of a victim as Mari was. He would never intentionally maim his sister like that. Hero swallowed his grief for his love and came up next to Sunny, consoling him silently, forlorn but knowing there was someone who needed him dearly. It’s what Mari would’ve wanted.</p><p>Aubrey stood there, motionless, and visibly struck by the revelation as it felt like sensory overload<em>. How could he do this?</em> She thought, rancidly staring at the display of Sunny’s despair as she tried to assemble her thoughts. <em>How dare he take Mari away from me? From us?! She was like a sister to me, and he</em><em>…</em> Like Hero, there was a haunting sting of unbridled rage bellowing up inside her. The thought that Sunny not only was the true culprit behind the photo album fiasco but was also the impetus for her despair when Mari di – no – was <em>taken</em> from her. For a moment, she felt her hands morph into a fist. She could see herself landing a blow so hard on Sunny that it could knock him out cold, making Basil’s injuries look like mere child’s play.</p><p>But then she stopped for a second, and then remembered when she shoved Basil into the lake. How he could’ve drowned if it weren’t for Sunny swooping into the water to try and get him out.</p><p><em>What if he didn’t make it?</em> She thought to herself, seeing the imagery of a lifeless Basil floating to the top of the water, a husk that would never move. His grandmother would’ve died knowing she’d outlive her grandson, even by a day. Polly would’ve been crumpled in grief that she couldn’t have done something. The gang she was with would’ve probably never been able to speak to her again, much less the group she’s known for years since her childhood. Sunny would’ve probably secluded more, and this time, it would be <em>her</em> fault. <em>She</em> would’ve been the monster she thought Sunny was in that moment in time.</p><p>It came to her then, in that moment, what Sunny was going through. Feelings of shame, desperation for forgiveness, fury at himself for cutting the life of someone close to him unintentionally. She realized just how much Sunny suffered, and how she was as blind as ever to it since Sunny left his house for the first time in four years three days ago. She then looked at Basil, who was suffering just as equally as Sunny was, given how he was the one who came up with the idea to frame Mari’s death as a suicide by hanging.</p><p>She couldn’t find it in her to be mad at the two of them, much less Sunny.</p><p>After the fist faded, she slowly approached Sunny, tears obviously slithering down her face. She knelt down to him and embraced him. Tightly. Replicating Mari’s hugs as best as she could while both of their tears dropped in unison. “Sunny… I-it’s okay…” She whimpered, no doubt trying to believe those words herself as well, as their foreheads gently touched one another.</p><p>All Sunny could do in that moment was cry. Despite the promises that were made in the depths of his mind that they’d forgive him for what he did, he had a hard time trying to take that as truth. He was bracing himself for the cold, empty company of rejection He was sure that that’s what was going to happen. Realistically, how does someone even stay in good graces of people when he murdered someone they deeply cared about, accident or no accident?</p><p>He felt Something loom over him as he was hugged, like the figments of Mari’s hair were coiling itself around his very soul and strangling his lungs like a vice, always probing itself at Sunny’s most vulnerable moments like this one. Its single eye staring at him with intentions unknown. It was just… there.</p><p>Something did nothing but just stare at the tormented boy who wept alongside his friends.</p><p>Sunny just proceeded to weep softly into his friends’ embrace for a second longer, before Aubrey broke the silence, her voice strained but still gentle as she cupped her hand under Sunny’s chin, looking deeply into his eyes. Before Sunny could apologize any further, she put a finger to his lips. “Shhh… We know… We forgive you…”</p><p>Sunny mustered a scratched whisper, clearly in teary-eyed disbelief. “…But <em>why</em>? I took everything away from you all… I don’t deserve your forgiveness…”</p><p>“Yes, you do.” Aubrey countered; her hands snug against Sunny’s back.</p><p>Hero chimed in, gently massaging Sunny’s hair as if he were a third brother. “It’s like what I said before, Sunny… I made the mistake of not being there when everyone else needed it the most. And now I realize I should’ve been there for you and Basil especially.” He leaned in close, like a father would to their saddened child. “You’re not a monster. I know that…” He stops for a moment, but then continues. “Mari knows that too.”</p><p>Kel being Kel, smiled warmly at Sunny, wrapping his arm around his shoulder like a teammate at a basketball game. “Trust us, Sunny, you’re a greater person than you think you are. And just because you did something bad, doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.” Sunny recognized those words immediately from before his fight with Omori. He felt his tears slow down, if only for a moment.</p><p>Aubrey brought the moment full circle, cupping his cheeks sympathetically, wiping any remaining tears from his eyes. “We’re a family, we stick together. It’s what we do.”</p><p>Without Kel’s usual announcement of such this time around, the group hugged Sunny sincerely, in what was a role reversal of the group hug they gave Aubrey yesterday near the tree stump, with Sunny this time being the main subject as tears once again left his eyes in a flurry. He didn’t say a word of protest, as he finally took a deep breath in and out, cathartically giving himself the release from the pain that had tormented him for years. He began to feel Something’s presence waning, almost as if it were fading into nothingness.</p><p>After what Sunny wished would feel like an eternity, he rose up with the group following suit. He approached Basil’s bed as he observed Basil’s bruised and damaged face. A pang of guilt hit Sunny for a moment, seeing such a sweet hearted boy in such physical duress that he caused, whether it was Something’s machinations or presence stressing the two out dearly to the point of not thinking clearly amidst Basil’s panic-induced paranoia, or their guilt over what they’d done driving the two momentarily to madness. But he once again CALMED DOWN and reassembled himself. He knew Basil was going to be okay. Those bruises on his face would disappear with time as Basil would resume to look as doe-eyed and as pure as he always was. Sunny gently touched the patch on his eye, he couldn't feel his eyeball there in his socket, and he felt a visible scrape lining up to the edges of the patch. He would be wearing the patch for some time before he would probably end up with a prosthetic. But what came next would blissfully have him forget his wound.</p><p>Basil stirred himself awake, the tendrils of Something still cocooning him as his eyes began to open. He saw Sunny right near him at the end of his bed, but also Something around the face of the door. But once Sunny curled his lips into a smile, a smile that he hasn’t seen Sunny show in years, the very smile that Basil fell in love with even if his feelings were reciprocated or not, caused Something to vanish into the air.</p><p>Basil smiled back.</p><p>Basil was HAPPY.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Messages</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny gets a particular message from Aubrey. But what will they think?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>CONTENT WARNING - MODERATE GORE AND UNSETTLING IMAGERY AND YES IT'S A BIT YIKES</p><p>Okay, so, let's just say I've been working on this entire story since earlier this month, and I've had some chapters done in preparation for when I got my invitation, which was today, so by the time this is up, I'd have started on the fifth chapter of the story. Yes, I am a massive workaholic in college, and yes, I probably should sleep to make up for the time I spent early in the morning working on this story. No, I'm not going to, because I'm crazy. c:&lt;</p><p>ALSO YEAH THIS CHAPTER HAS SOME UNSETTLING SHIT IN IT I MEAN THIS IS OMORI WE'RE TALKING ABOUT BUT STILL NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART IF YOU'RE NOT INTO THIS KIND OF STUFF OKAY THANK YOU</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been six months since Sunny moved from Faraway Town. He lived in a nice, little apartment complex near the sprawling city of Bayview. It wasn’t the fanciest living space by any stretch of the word, but for Sunny’s mother, it was a perfect reset button on their lives that they both so dearly needed.</p><p>For Sunny… it was a little tougher for him to adapt.</p><p>He did very well on catching up in school, and to his credit, he agreed that it was a perfect way to start over and find that happiness or peace that Aubrey had wished for him back in Faraway. But that’s where it pretty much ended in terms of pros.</p><p>He had a hard time socializing much in school, even when his eye healed enough to finally take off that damned eyepatch, even if it did leave a semi-noticeable scar. Given that it was a high school, it was rife with judgment and lack of empathy from most of the kids. He was teased a fair bit for his eyepatch and meek physique, mostly due to not eating much during his time as a recluse for four years, and he’d be damned to find anyone that went out of their way to talk to him. Given his background, though, he didn’t blame them that much.</p><p>His mother worked quite a bunch since moving in, doing her best to provide for her son even harder now than before. Sunny couldn’t help but feel deep down that there was a growing twinge of overprotectiveness beginning to show, as she would get seriously antsy at the mention of Faraway Town. For all intents and purposes, she tried to pretend that town didn’t exist or was off the grid. It’s not like it was unfounded, given what happened during the process of moving houses, but it still rubbed Sunny as her trying desperately to keep her son from any more harm to him, whether minor or major, even if the methods of doing so were kind of making it worse.</p><p>Since Sunny was finished with the first semester in his new school, passing his exams with A’s and B’s all across the board (something he took actual pride in for the first time in a while), he mostly just stayed home by himself, albeit far from the more worrying aspects of this from four years ago.</p><p>Sunny sat near his new bed in his room, the Zoloft canister near his lamp shining candidly from the light. He looked at the screen of his laptop, eyeing the group chat he and his friends in Faraway made. Communication starting off on this was a bit slow, mostly just due to everyone being occasionally busy, but they came around to it over time when school kicked back into high gear in August. Basil would send cute pictures of his flowers and his garden, Kel would either send dumb memes or clips of his basketball games at Faraway High, Aubrey would show off moments of her now being in boxing as a seeming threat to Kel’s basketball finesse, and Hero would occasionally show off pictures of him working hard for his degree in medical school. Other than that, the chat was mostly oriented in texting each other.</p><p>Sunny had also taken up a hobby in recent months as an artist and even taking an interest in writing. He still would occasionally dip his toes into music here and there, but it was nowhere near as frequent as he used to when Mari was still around. He was seemingly still a bit nervous about showing it off, given his shy nature and how it wildly contrasted from the more extroverted feats of his friends, but it had been a great source of therapy for him to use his grief and emotions in a constructive manner. That didn’t mean he never showed it off occasionally, but it was either with Basil, who was the one who knew the context behind what the drawings and stories meant and was supportive of his new means of coping, or Aubrey, who once told him around October that his writings were arguably better than the stuff she’d have to read for her classes in high school. Sunny could remember the feeling of his cheeks flushing somewhat upon that compliment.</p><p>Aubrey was on his mind a lot more than usual in recent times, and if Basil was in second place for the most he’s talked to a person over text, then she was in a well-endowed first place. He would sometimes go to great lengths talking to her about his life in Bayview, both the good and the bad. He chuckled at Aubrey’s response to when he mentioned he was getting bullied quite a bit over his former eyepatch.</p><p>
  <strong>Aubrey (September 8<sup>th</sup>, 2:36 PM):  If they ever lay a finger on you, tell them the tale of the “pink demon” and her “weapon of choice”. &gt;:)</strong>
</p><p><strong>Sunny (September 8<sup>th</sup>, 2:36 PM): Aubrey</strong> <strong>…</strong></p><p>
  <strong>Sunny (September 8<sup>th</sup>, 2:36 PM): That’s murder.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Aubrey (September 8<sup>th</sup>, 2:37 PM): It’s not murder if every bully is accounted for~</strong>
</p><p><strong>Sunny (September 8<sup>th</sup>, 2:37 PM): Alright note to self</strong> <strong>…</strong></p><p>
  <strong>Sunny (September 8<sup>th</sup>, 2:37 PM): Remind me to never get on your bad side again.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Aubrey (September 8<sup>th</sup>, 2:39 PM): Hey, I can make a good bodyguard nowadays. &gt;:D</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Sunny (September 8<sup>th</sup>, 2:39 PM): There’s a difference between bodyguard and serial killer.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Aubrey (September 8<sup>th</sup>, 2:40 PM): You’re one to talk, knife boy.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Sunny (September 8<sup>th</sup>, 2:40 PM): Okay, fair play.</strong>
</p><p>There were times where he would sometimes read her chat logs for a couple hours at most, each message between the two making him feel as if that hug from the hospital was still happening to this very day.</p><p>He still remembered the day when he revealed that he was finally allowed to take off the eyepatch for good, along with a prosthetic eye, to the gang’s delight, <em>especially</em> Basil.</p><p>“Y’know, Sunny, I wouldn’t quite throw away that eyepatch yet. With that scar you’ve got, you’d make a convincing pirate for Halloween!” Kel jokingly suggested over a call one day.</p><p>Aubrey scoffed, taking offense to Kel’s suggestion than Sunny did. “Kel! He just got the thing off today, let’s be sensitive!”</p><p>Basil chuckled nervously, obviously not wanting to be reminded of the fact that he’s the reason Sunny got the eyepatch in the first place. “S-She’s got a point, Kel…”</p><p>Hero said nothing, seeing as the two of them probably got the point across better than he did.</p><p>Sunny, however, did indeed follow up on Kel’s joking suggestion and nabbed a pirate costume for Halloween, even if it were primarily just to see how his friends would react.</p><p>
  <strong>Kel (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:21 PM): OH MY GOD YES</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Aubrey (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:21 PM): SUNNY WHAT</strong>
</p><p><strong>Basil (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:21 PM): </strong> <strong>…</strong> <strong>okay, not gonna lie, Sunny</strong> <strong>…</strong> <strong> you look cute in that. &gt;///&lt;;</strong></p><p>
  <strong>Aubrey (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:22 PM): BASIL</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Kel (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:22 PM): <em>YARR HAR FIDDLE DEE DEE</em></strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Sunny (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:22 PM): <em>BEING A PIRATE IS ALRIGHT TO BE</em></strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Aubrey (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:22 PM): KEL DO NOT</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Kel (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:23 PM): <em>DO WHAT YOU WANT CAUSE A PIRATE IS FREE</em></strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Sunny (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:24 PM): <em>YOU ARE A PIRATE</em></strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Aubrey (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:24 PM): I can’t decide whether to be mad at Sunny or Kel right now.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Sunny (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:24 PM): The costume was on sale, I couldn’t say no to that. Plus, since we had kids coming for trick-or-treating, I figured they’d want to see a cool pirate.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Basil (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:24 PM): I think you mean a cute pirate, Sunny.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Aubrey (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:25 PM): Okay, Sunny, you have an excuse, I’ll give you that. As for Kel, better sleep with one eye open tonight.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Kel (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 6:26 PM): Knowing you, they’re both open at night.</strong>
</p><p><strong>Hero (October 31<sup>st</sup>, 10:47 PM): </strong> <strong>…</strong> <strong>you guys.</strong></p><p>Basil’s responses made Sunny giggle. He knew Basil was into boys and had a crush on him, and while Sunny didn’t quite reciprocate his feelings to that extent, he definitely saw Basil as a little brother kind of figure, a sentiment Basil took surprisingly very well as a compromise. That all being said, he didn’t mind Basil’s compliments on Sunny’s apparent attractiveness.</p><p>Sunny’s mother was aware that her son was still in touch with his friends in Faraway, and while she had no problem with it at all, she was a bit anxious that her son wasn’t nearly this social around their new hometown in Bayview. He did elaborate to her that he was being bullied, and while she sympathized with his situation, there was only so much she could do with being a single mother of one child who had gone through emotional and physical, not to mention mental, hell. She wondered if the antidepressants Sunny was prescribed with were helping at all, and they <em>did</em>, but it wasn’t going to completely subside the issues that still held its place deep within him from the bigger picture.</p><p>Sunny’s mom came home that night, particularly exhausted from her new job, as she set her things down on the kitchen cupboard and lied down on the couch in an exasperated sigh. Sunny definitely took notice from his room and opened the door to see his mother crashed on the couch. “Long day, mom?” He smiled meekly.</p><p>His mother looked at him as he asked that, smiling exhaustedly as she turned over on her right hip. “Yeah, Sunny. Mommy’s had a long day…” She smiled back at her son, as the two embraced in a hug.</p><p>Dinner was served as Sunny, and his mother sat quietly on the table chairs. It was a bit of a lazy night for Sunny’s mother, as she wasn’t having the energy tonight to cook something extravagant, so she ordered takeout for her and her son. It was burgers and fries from the nearby fast-food joint. It wasn’t anything special, and it certainly wasn’t gonna set the world on fire with how it was made, but for a slow night like this one, it was better than nothing.</p><p>Sunny took a careful bite of the last vestiges of his food before taking a gander at his mom. She had some slight bags under her eyes, no doubt due to the excessive amounts of stress the woman was carrying with her for the past few years. While Sunny had some slight criticisms over her growing overprotectiveness, he did feel genuinely sorry for her. It was obvious she was struggling since his dad bailed on them when he knew what happened to Mari. Sunny could still remember the venom-tinged aura of horror and tranquil fury that was sewn to his voice as he slammed the door on the two of them so hard that the glass window shattered under the velocity of the slam as he drove off. Deep within the backlands of Black Space, he heard a faceless version of his father spew that same vitriol at him when repeatedly hurling the axe away at that damned tree. But it was all said and done now.</p><p>His mom knew Sunny was looking observantly at her and smiled softly. “You finished, dear?”</p><p>Sunny nodded. She had just finished as well, and took both of their plates to the sink, washing them and her hands accordingly. “Did you have a good last day of school before winter break?”</p><p>Sunny then took his turn to wash his hands and answered after a second of thinking. “Ehh… it was pretty much just the same as usual.”</p><p>Sunny’s mother knew exactly what he meant by that. The kids were probably getting at him again. “Is Elliot still causing trouble for you? Or that vice principal?”</p><p>Sunny frowned a tiny bit after he turned off the sink. Elliot was pretty much every stereotype of a brute known from practically every high school movie you could think of, and yet somehow, not at all. He had the grades almost equal to Sunny, was well-built but not a hulking mass of muscle like Vance was back in Faraway and was apparently handsome enough to net himself a girlfriend of his own. Not helping was that his dad was the vice principal at the school, and he was well aware of the rumors surrounding Sunny. If Elliot was the typically-renowned class trophy-catcher who just so happened to be Sunny’s grim reminder of his feelings of being an outcast, then the vice principal was the amalgamation of Sunny’s thoughts of his perception to the public eye: a freak who apparently killed his sister. If any word of Elliot’s misdemeanors reached the board, it was swiftly squashed like a bug at his heel. Sunny knew he had no chance of staving them off. “…a little, yeah.”</p><p>“Have you gone to the counselors or the teachers about it?” She asked. Bless her heart, she tried, but she had <em>no idea</em>.</p><p>“I did. They’re looking into it.” Sunny reassured, although he knew deep down it was either a half-truth or was gonna go nowhere. He was desperate to change the subject.</p><p>“That’s good. Hopefully, it’ll be taken care of, so best thing you can do now is just keep your chin up and let them handle it.” She smiled warmly, gently running her fingers past her son’s hair.</p><p>Sunny smiled, enjoying his mother’s attempts at helping him feel better, before they both caught a glimpse of the clock. It was around 9:25 PM. Sunny’s mother was exhausted, as she put the plates in the dishwasher and walked towards her room, seemingly going to change into her nightwear. “Mommy’s gonna hit the hay a little early tonight, dear. You’ve done well on those finals, so feel free to hang out in your room if you want.” She grinned, suppressing her own exhaustion for the sake of reassuring her son.</p><p>Sunny smiled back at his mother, still a tad distraught that his experiences in school would go unheard, but he knew she meant well. Nonetheless, he walked over to his room, wishing his mother goodnight all the while. He gazed out the window to see snow begin to trickle down by the thousands, the amble lights of the bustling downtown below as the backyard was now nothing but white as far as the eye can see.</p><p>He then heard a notification noise blip on his laptop, to which he went over to investigate. It was a message from Aubrey, which he caught himself smiling at instantaneously. As soon as he noticed that, his cheeks flushed a candid shade of red, as well as his ears.</p><p>Sunny had no clue where this side of him came out, and it would always rear its head when Aubrey was the subject matter. He enjoyed Aubrey’s presence quite a bit since they were kids, especially so when they would just spend time together on the swing set, enjoying the breeze of Faraway’s winds. After what happened to Mari, however, he felt himself emotionally lock up for the past four years, even more so since he had no one to blame but himself for shoving her down the stairs… No, he was gonna stop chiding himself for something that the gang had long since forgiven him for, even if it took some time for it to completely go into place. Regardless, he thought Aubrey detested him after those four years, and it kinda looked like that was the case, until he, Kel, and Hero came to her aid from her shitty home. He might’ve felt something within his heart click at that moment as he was slowly repairing himself emotionally during that time, as if an old flame relit itself on a candle, but by that point, Basil and his health became top priority. He never knew if Aubrey reciprocated, but even if she did, the revelation at the hospital was probably a bad way to answer that question. But he remembered how closely she held him once the words were said. How her hands just caressed his teary cheeks like an angel’s kiss. How she reiterated Hero’s words right back at him about how they would stick together, and how it replayed in his mind like a scratched-up vinyl disc on a record player.</p><p>He caught himself lost in these thoughts, flushing an even deeper shade of red. Sunny was embarrassed to even think about it.</p><p>He looked over the message, and it read as followed:</p><p><strong>Aubrey (December 14<sup>th</sup>, 9:31 PM): Hey, Sunny! Hope you’re doing well, especially now that winter break’s finally here. The gang and I have been thinking, and planning this out as best as we could, but we were wondering if you were interested in coming down to Faraway Town for Christmas. We figured that we wanted to repay you for helping us get back together more prominently. Kel and Hero said they’re more than willing to house you, while I’ll be staying at Kim’s place for</strong> <strong>…</strong> <strong> reasons you could probably guess. Basil said he would’ve loved to offer his place, but he unfortunately was having his parents come home for the holidays, so there wouldn’t be much room for you there. We could maybe push it to New Years’ if you want to! But yeah, let us know if you’re interested! :D</strong></p><p>Sunny could feel his heart begin to leap out of his chest. The gang was offering him to come back to Faraway for the holidays? Including New Years’ if he wanted? Was he dreaming?</p><p>He pinched himself just to be sure. <em>Ow!</em></p><p>“…okay, not dreaming.” He concluded, still completely in awestruck shock at the offer. He was about ready to type up one big, spaced-out “yes” as a reply…</p><p>But then he remembered his mother trying to distance herself as much as possible from Faraway, and for a moment, he felt himself at a crossroads.</p><p>He remembered that momentous Christmas Day where he got that… <em>accursed</em> violin. The violin that started the route to hell in Sunny’s life. The violin that he smashed in a stressed-out rage. The violin that…</p><p>Sunny took a moment to look near his legs, as if there were thousands of eyes watching his every move. He knew that he told the gang the truth, so why was he still suffering these thoughts? He took his antidepressants today, didn’t he?</p><p>He felt a chill creep through his spine as he pondered his thoughts. He wanted to go, so very badly. He wanted to see them all again. He wanted to enjoy himself after four years of agony and fulfill Mari’s request of moving forward. He wanted to see Aubrey again. But he wondered what his mother would think. What would she say?</p><p>A specter of doubt caused the hairs on his neck to shiver. He realized how long he sat there in nervous contemplation, in lightless thought. The clock read 10:15 PM.</p><p>The fan spun above his bed clockwise, the air around him feeling wintry to the touch, as if he were bare out in the cold. He moved over to the switch near his door and turned off his fan. But it was then he noticed something odd outside. He could barely see the city as it was now storming like mad with snow. He could see nothing but a dark sky with fleets of snow speeding past his apartment room like a hurricane.</p><p>Something was wrong.</p><p>He creaked his door open just a smidge, but instead of the living room he had grown accustomed to, he found himself back in the hallway of the hospital. He checked his eye, and sure enough, he had his patch back on, and he was back in that hospital gown that he wore when he was in their care. Knowing now that there was nowhere else to go but forward, he walked ahead, once again seeing apparitions of the Kel, Aubrey, and Hero from his dreams. They looked so young, so full of energy, and smiled their playful smiles. They noticed him and moved in closer.</p><p>Kel chimed in, an echo in his voice. “Hey, Omori! Glad to see you!”</p><p>Sunny felt a bigger chill on him at the mention of Omori. It was the part of him he saw disappear after their fight once he mustered the nerve to play the duet Mari would have wanted to. To hear that name again was almost like hearing the rattle of a rattlesnake in the dunes.</p><p>Aubrey giggled, also with an echo as she twirled in almost ballet-like dance. “So good to see you, Omori! Wanna come play with us~?”</p><p>Hero nodded humbly, before speaking with an even bigger echo. “C’mon! Follow us! We’ll go see Mari!”</p><p>The three ran towards the doorway to the hospital roof as they faded from a distance the moment they were in the door’s vicinity. The hospital seemed to carry the same ambience it always had when he woke that day, but Sunny could tell something was off. There were no doctors or nurses nearby that could see him, it was all precariously empty as far as the eye can see.</p><p>Except for one detail. A dark, shadowy phantom of Basil. The Stranger.</p><p>He saw the Stranger walk towards Basil’s hospital room. Having a gut feeling of where this was going, he followed him, before he too faded away once he neared Basil’s room. Sunny gently opened the door.</p><p>He once again saw Kel, Aubrey, and Hero, but this time huddled near Basil’s bed. Just like that day in the hospital. They all turned towards him, in surprise at seeing him out of his bed all by himself.</p><p>“I have to tell you something.” Sunny spoke, breaking the silence, as if his words were played again right in front of him. He had no control.</p><p>The trio all looked at him in curiosity and concern, not knowing what he meant.</p><p>“The photo album… B-Basil’s photo album… He didn’t scribble out the pictures… <em>I did</em>…” He felt his voice begin to croak, as if the dryness of his throat from years of disuse materialized from thin air. Tears started to leak from his open eye.</p><p>The gang remained silent, Aubrey in totally distraught shock. She felt something within her begin to boil as her eyes as well began to well up.</p><p>“I was afraid of being reminded of her… her death… I couldn’t bear the pain of knowing she would never see me again… I was afraid of everyone knowing what happened to her…” Sunny stuttered, the tears starting to trickle down his cheeks all over again.</p><p>“That day… The recital… I was struggling to keep up with Mari every time we practiced… No matter how hard I tried, no matter how well I played, she was always two steps ahead… I only played that violin just to be with her… I didn’t want her to go away, but the more she wanted a better performance out of me… The angrier I got… I smashed it in half… Tossed it aside on the floor as if it were garbage…” The last word escaping his lips was punctuated for emphasis, as he could feel himself being about ready to burst into a crying fit.</p><p>“Mari heard it break… She got mad at me… Told me I was forgetting what was important… That I was being selfish and just thinking of myself… Being <em>ungrateful</em>… I told her to move… She stood there… I… I tried to shove her out of the way… I…” The words were struggling to get out. “I… I shoved her down the stairs… I… I killed her… I didn’t mean to, yet… I killed her…”</p><p>“Basil heard me crying… He tried to comfort me… I had waited for hours for Mari to wake up… She never did…” He whimpered solemnly, not once looking at the group even if he wanted to, out of fear of any perceived anger headed his direction. “He… He came up with the idea to make her death look like she hung herself… Tried to spare me from what would happen if everyone found out…”</p><p>He just couldn’t hold it in anymore. He broke down on his knees, in a position that almost looked like he was begging. The tears fell to the floor in rapid succession, one after the other. “I… I’m s-so sorry… I don’t deserve your forgiveness… I’m just… a monster! I took away the one person you all cared the most about…! I… I always see her every time I’m alone… I can’t even sleep at night sometimes without feeling like I was better off dead…! W-Why wasn’t it me instead…?!” He couldn’t speak anymore. His lungs were practically going to burst if he kept it up, so he wept on the floor, like a child who was all alone, with no knowledge of where their parents were.</p><p>He slightly looked up, only now to see an empty room. No sign of Basil, Kel, Hero… Aubrey. The room looked practically vacated, with the bed being made perfectly as if no one was even there at all.</p><p>He barged out the door, wondering where they could’ve gone. But now, he found himself in an even bigger hallway, an endless walkway of pictures, chairs, and doors. Sunny ran down one way, only to find himself right back where he started. He tried running from the left instead, only to once again back at the entry way to Basil’s room.</p><p>He found the doors automatically open of their own volition. All of which carried a white glow of what he thought was the sun of the outdoors, but he knew better. He remembered Black Space, and to no longer trust doors in his dreams.</p><p>In one door, he saw Mewo curled up against another Sunny on a rocking chair pleasantly. But Mewo looked practically split open from the back, and this duplicate of Sunny had his hands rotted nearly to the bone and flesh, as if they were submerged in acid.</p><p>Sunny slammed the door in horror, backing away as far as he could from there, until he found himself in another hospital room. This one had both another Sunny duplicate and Mari coated in blood, with Mari’s neck craned crookedly and her mouth shredded down to her chest, while the duplicate Sunny this time looked like his eyes had been gouged out by a bear’s claws, as the television repeatedly played a cassette tape of a hanged person swinging from a tree branch, all with a smile on their face. The hanged person looked painfully close to Sunny, even down to the way his eyes looked.</p><p>He raced out of that room and slammed the door. Only to find himself now precariously in a room showing an infant Sunny, a young Mari, and their parents getting their photo taken. But there was no photographer present. And when there was a slight flash of a nonexistent camera, he would find a steak knife repeatedly being slashed against the small neck of infant Sunny by the father, with no reaction from anyone as the infant bled out. They were completely nonplussed about it as the dad spoke, in a dead monotone, “I love my son. I love my son. I love my son.”</p><p>The mother would then join in, just as emotionless as the father. “I love my son. I love my son. I love my son.”</p><p>And then it was Mari. “I love my brother. I love my brother. I love my brother.”</p><p>Sunny practically smashed the door closed in pure fear. All the while, for no reason whatsoever, a rendition of Kryztof Penderecki’s “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima” began performing loudly, almost as loud enough to burst eardrums. Sunny crumpled up on the floor, clutching his ears in agony as he almost felt the need to puke…</p><p>But then he made the mistake of looking up.</p><p>In front of him were all hanged carcasses of things he loved. His mother, Mewo, Mari, Kel, Basil, Hero… <em>Aubrey</em>…</p><p>Sunny was AFRAID. Sunny was STRESSED OUT.</p><p>Sunny screamed. He screamed as loudly as he could in aghast dread.</p><p>Once he felt the need to stop, the music ceased immediately. Everything around him was gone, leaving him in just a vast expanse of nothing as far as one would wish it to be. Sunny opened his eyes.</p><p>He was in White Space.</p><p>He weakly rose to his feet, now just in his normal, daily attire. It was almost the White Space he remembered, but there was no rug, no Mewo, no laptop, tissues… no lightbulb. Just him…</p><p>And Omori.</p><p>Omori just stood there, gazing out into nothingness with a knife in his hand, as if hypnotized by all the emptiness of White Space. He said nothing, didn’t even bother to <em>look</em> at Sunny.</p><p>Sunny didn’t understand.</p><p><em>I thought he was gone. </em>Sunny thought to himself. His thoughts seemingly starting to pile with anger. <em>Why is he here?!</em></p><p>Omori didn’t respond at all as Sunny approached him. He seemed practically lifeless, more so than usual with his monochromatic skin and soulless eyes.</p><p>Sunny felt himself start to seethe from the inside as he approached Omori. “…Why are you here?” He growled.</p><p>No comment.</p><p>Sunny let out a mocking chuckle. “Heh, <em>now</em> you have nothing to say to me? Figured. You were never one for conversation anyways.”</p><p>Still nothing back from Omori, still staring deadpan at the white horizons, as if he somehow found that wasteland more appealing than the person in front of him. Rude.</p><p>“You were always one to whisk me away from the truth, weren’t you? Letting me live out these fantasies in a fairy tale where everyone loves me, and I can do no wrong? As if nothing in the world could touch me? Do you now realize how better off I am now without you?” He ranted, almost equally venomous as Sweetheart’s laugh.</p><p>Omori did not respond.</p><p>“You’re a psychopath. Making me believe lies like a puppet on a string for the sake of your sick, shitty means of protecting me. You think you’re helping me? You’re <em>not</em>. You are nothing more than a figment of my imagination. You mean nothing to me anymore. I don’t <em>NEED </em>you, Omori!” Sunny continued to rant, his voice starting to turn into a shout.</p><p>Still nothing.</p><p>Sunny growled in frustration. “What?! Are you gonna try and say something to me, you miserable little shit? Gonna tell me to kill myself like a kid behind a headset who thinks he’s tough?!”</p><p>Omori said nothing. Fed up, Sunny balled his hand into a fist and struck him clean in the cheek.</p><p>“That one’s for Basil.” Sunny threatened, curving another right hook to Omori’s jaw. “That one’s for Hero.” And another. “That one’s for Kel.” Another one. “That one’s for Mom.” A much harsher uppercut landed right up Omori’s chin, knocking him to the floor. “That one’s for Mari.”</p><p>Omori still stared vacantly at nothing, even when his mouth was starting to bleed. Sunny felt his rage pile up in one spontaneous climax. He roared, ENRAGED, and smashed both of his fists repeatedly in Omori’s face. Sunny was FURIOUS. His punches were enough to supply the only sound in White Space, as it echoed ferociously, every punch blaring those same hellish, glitching noises that reverberated in their fight when Sunny was hospitalized. He just kept trying to crush Omori, every crevice of the monochrome boy’s face seeping with blood. Tears were streaking down Sunny’s face as he kept hurting Omori. Once he took heavy, violent breaths, he CALMED DOWN. He FOCUSED. He got up from Omori, practically sure he got the message.</p><p>He turned his back on the child, who just laid there without a care in the world. Typical.</p><p>“That one’s for Aubrey.”</p><p>Sunny walked away from Omori, just waiting for himself to wake up from this dreadful nightmare, until…</p><p>“<strong>You lie, Sunny.</strong>” Omori’s voice finally left him, and just as Sunny turned around, he was met with Omori stabbing him clean in the stomach. Sunny practically strangled underneath all the blood as he clutched his stomach in wincing pain, trembling to the floor weakly as he looked up at Omori, who continued to stare at him expressionlessly, not a trace of Sunny’s punches visible on his face, as if he never did a thing to him. Omori raised his knife above Sunny’s other eye, as Sunny sweated in terror, blood starting to leak from his mouth. “<strong>You need me.</strong>”</p><p>Sunny became AFRAID. He tried to shake his head, pleadingly, starting to choke on his own blood. “O… Omor…”</p><p>A feeling of red hot, piercing, serrated steel forcefully coursed through his face from his eye.</p><p>Sunny awoke on the floor of his bedroom, sweating in utter fear from that gruesome nightmare. He checked his eye, thankfully being able to see out of it. He checked his other eye, also feeling nothing from the nightmare but just the scar he had before.</p><p>He curled up and looked at his clock. It read 5:26 AM. He checked his laptop, and sure enough, Aubrey’s message was still there. He must’ve fallen asleep on his desk, and then fell off when the nightmare started getting really bad.</p><p>He lied down on the floor, staring at the overhead ceiling light, and took a second to cry.</p><p>He missed Mari. So much.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>and yes that song name is a twin peaks reference i am a nERD<br/>help me ;;-;;</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Decisions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny has a unpleasant run-in with someone who refuses to see past the big picture. But would it all be worth it once his mother makes the final call?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>HI YES HELLO THIS IS ME UPLOADING THE CHAPTERS THAT I ALREADY FINISHED BEFOREHAND AND YES I'M WORKING ON NEW CHAPTERS</p><p>But yeah, much as I am uploading all of these already-finished chapters, I gotta say thank you for all the feedback so far I've been getting on this. I was worried this'd be nothing more than badly-written character torture and the like, especially since I tend to remind myself of the shitty fanfics I used to write when I was thirteen in middle school trying to stand out but looking like nothing more than a pretentious little pansy in hindsight. So looking at the responses to this series so far in comparison to that is quite the glow up! But please, feel free to leave any criticisms if need be! It helps me grow as a writer and make sure not to make any further mistakes in the future! &lt;3</p><p>BUT YEAH ANYHOO ON WITH THE SHOW</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sunny got cleaned up that morning, making sure to have his teeth be as minty fresh as can be before he had his breakfast. His mother was called in to work this morning, so she left Sunny a note near what was a plate of scrambled eggs. “Sunny, so sorry that I couldn’t have breakfast with you this morning. My boss wanted me to clock in to help my team at the hospital downtown, so I’ll try to see if I can call you on my break hours to check in on you. Mommy loves you!” The note read, in his mother’s signature cursive handwriting.</p><p>Sunny sat quietly and took his time eating his breakfast. Hero had him be sure to eat more to regain his strength, and the results did indeed show. While not a body-builder by any stretch, Sunny had at least regained about thirty pounds in his weight, which was a massive step up compared to where he was a couple months ago, where he looked as fragile as a sandcastle.</p><p>Sunny still couldn’t stop thinking about that message Aubrey sent him, but to not repeat the same mistake of being alone with his thoughts unprepared from last night, he took his antidepressants and washed it down with water. “Not today, Omori.” Sunny muttered to himself, a prideful tone smugly escaping his mouth.</p><p>Once he took his medicine, he took a moment to check the windows to see if it truly was snowing. Unfortunately, it seemed like the snowfall was just a part of his nightmare, as there wasn’t a remote speck of it on the ground. While that may have been a slight downside, he realized he’d have to let his mother know about Aubrey’s idea, and much as it terrified him to see what he assumed her reaction would be, he knew it needed to be done. He was done hiding from things.</p><p>He grabbed a notecard, and with a pen in his hand, he wrote down what was on his mind.</p><p>“Mom, hope you had a good day today. I just wanted to let you know that I was invited to spend the holiday break at Faraway with my friends there, and I am very highly considering it. I know you want me to be more social here, and I do respect your wishes, but… I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I miss Faraway. I’ll find a way to repay you, I promise. – Sunny”</p><p>Sunny felt his heart ache to the core at what he was having to write, knowing that he could potentially risk upsetting his mother. But he knew that he was going to get nowhere here in this town. His family didn’t really visit him much since what happened to Mari and, given his mother’s new job as a nurse downtown, there wouldn’t be much they could do during the holidays either, in the case she got booked during Christmas. This had to be done. He wanted to start making bigger steps towards moving on.</p><p>After he left that note, he quickly replied to Aubrey’s message on his laptop.</p><p>
  <strong>Sunny (December 15<sup>th</sup>, 10:04 AM): I might need a bit to see what my mom thinks. Is that alright with you? Is there a specific time you want me to be there if she says yes?</strong>
</p><p>He sent the reply and decided to take a slight walk around the neighborhood, putting his cell phone in his pocket in case of any replies. He geared up for the cold weather, putting on his new scarf that his mom got him three weeks ago, and trekked out the door.</p><p>While it was nothing more than just an apartment complex neighborhood, which pretty much meant the outside was pretty much streets and roads as far as the eye can see, Sunny got used to taking these reflective walks where he can just shut his anxiety off and just listen carefully to the sprawling city life below him. He started doing this at Hero’s behest, seeing as Sunny was practically paler than a ghost, and it definitely helped flush up his skin a bit more. Hero was pretty much the closest thing Sunny had at this point to a doctor that wasn’t from Bayview. Hero figured he’d put his medical school teachings to the test with Sunny, and to his credit, it most definitely was showing results.</p><p>Unfortunately, he just so happened to have passed by Elliot’s house, a nearly top-class, pompous abode that just screamed “a little too much”. And guess who was outside around that time?</p><p>“Arr, it’s Patchy the Pirate!” Elliot sneered boldly, prominent enough for Sunny to hear.</p><p>Sunny rolled his eyes, mentally smacking himself for not seeing where he was walking towards. “You got any other nicknames, man? You know the eyepatch is gone now.” Sunny sighed, annoyed at having to put up with him again when he thought he was safe.</p><p>Elliot chuckled in a passive-aggressive manner. “Ah, yeah, you’re right! How about ‘Captain Shitstain’? I see you reading those Captain Spaceboy books in the library, don’t lie to me.”</p><p>Sunny grimaced internally at that new nickname, now regretting giving Elliot the fuel. He tried to walk past him, but Elliot shoved him back up. Sunny knew that Elliot was around his height, only inches above him, but with the muscle he had, he was perfectly capable of preventing Sunny from moving much away. He was practically trapped looking at his shaggy-haired, moderately peach fuzzed roadblock dead in the eye. “Hey, c’mon, man, let’s just hang out for a sec!” Elliot mustered teasingly, a dissonant malice seeping through his shit-eating grin.</p><p>“Look, Elliot, I gotta go, can we not…“ Before Sunny could finish as he tries one last vain attempt to evade him, Elliot once again shoved him back.</p><p>“Nah, not really feeling up to it.” Elliot sneered back. He could practically batter Sunny’s face into the grass right now and no one would be any the wiser. In fact… “But how about I drop the nice guy act for a sec…”</p><p>What Elliot did next would unsettle even Mikhael at his most affably tough. Elliot proceeded to grab a hold of Sunny, and with one fell swoop, Sunny made acquaintance with the ground. Elliot loomed over him; any semblance of the passive-aggressive demeanor dissipated in favor of raw, terrifying sadism. Sunny heard an BB gun loaded near his stomach, as Elliot then unzipped Sunny’s jacket and tossed aside his scarf to the grass. “Now, listen here, and listen well…”</p><p>Sunny was AFRAID. He tried to look away, hoping anyone was nearby to see what was happening. No dice. Before he could try to CALM DOWN, Elliot harshly grasped his cheek and forced him into eye contact with him. “Let’s get one thing straight here, as far as everyone here is concerned, you’re a killer…! A stone-cold killer. And you know what we do to monsters like you around here…?”</p><p>Elliot fired a round right near Sunny’s abdomen, purposefully hitting the ground. An intimidation tactic, trying to rattle Sunny. “We hurt monsters. Because they aren’t worth a breath of air in this God-given American land. If I were you, I’d sit in the closet of your bedroom and just kill yourself. It’ll save me the bullets from my dad’s favorite gun. But as for this one here, you’ll <em>wish</em> this were the real deal.”</p><p>He fired another pellet clean into Sunny’s hip, as Sunny felt nothing but a harsh stinging sensation, as if he were struck with at least thirty hornet stingers. He wanted to scream but the most he could wager were winces in pain. Elliot smirked triumphantly, stowing the fake firearm into his holster, before walking around Sunny and towards his house. “Say hi to your sister for me. Bet she’s hot.” He commented rather crassly in Sunny’s direction as Sunny kept clutching his hip in pain. Sunny wanted to react in revenge, but he was too weak and too deep in pain to do anything about it. His nerves started to close up in a new feeling of fear, as he ran as far as he could from that house.</p><p>Once he reached his apartment, Sunny shut the door and ran towards his mom’s room, shoving off his winter coat and scarf and pulled his shirt up, seeing a rather grisly break within his skin, with blood starting to drip slowly from the entrance wound. While it may not have been a real bullet, it sure as hell hurt like one. He went over to the sink and applied a fair amount of water to the abrasion, all with a towel on the floor to hide any water droplets. Next, he found the nearest bit of hand soap and gently dabbed it on there. It stung like hell, and Sunny could feel small tears leaving his eyes, but he PERSISTED. Once it was all cleaned up, he searched for any antibiotics present, and to his luck, he found a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and some ointment. Taking a deep breath, he poured a slight bit of hydrogen peroxide on the wound and applied the ointment to it, and similarly, it hurt a lot. Finally, he found a medicinal Band-Aid and patched up the wound. He then took the time to clean up his work, putting everything back into place and tossing the slightly bloody towel in the washer.</p><p>Sunny lied down gently on the couch, embarrassed and angry with himself that he even bothered to do the walk today at all. He checked his phone. 12:59 PM. Aubrey responded an hour ago.</p><p>
  <strong>Aubrey (December 15<sup>th</sup>, 11:46 AM): No worries, Sunny! Just as long as I know at least by the end of this weekend, you’re all good. Doing alright today?</strong>
</p><p>If there was one thing Sunny knew he could count on to raise his spirits, it would be Aubrey and the gang’s messages. But he looked to his wound. Not counting the probability of how long the wound would hurt for, he thought about how worried he knew the gang, and <em>especially</em> his mother would be, if they saw that airsoft wound. That somebody would lay their hands upon him in such a manner, they’d be scared beyond their wits’ end for him, and during Christmastime, it’s not what Sunny wanted. He typed his response.</p><p>
  <strong>Sunny (December 15<sup>th</sup>, 11:48 AM): The same as usual, perhaps. Had a walk today like I got into the spirit of doing. Shockingly enough, no snow here yet.</strong>
</p><p>He lied his head back against the arm of the couch, disdained with himself for not bothering to say something to her about the encounter with Elliot. She <em>knew</em> he was being bullied. She even said she’d fight him off herself if he even so much as looked at him wrong. So <em>why</em> was Sunny drawing a blank on mentioning what Elliot did to him today? Did he think it would be too much emotional hassle for the group? Was he really thinking they’d be too exhausted to have to tend to his every whim again? Was he trying to show he was stronger than before by not saying much about it?</p><p>To distract himself, he checked the group chat with his friends. As usual, Kel was being the group chat goofball, Aubrey was expressing her irritation with Kel’s playful idiocy, Hero was just showing off more of his moments in medical school, and Basil was sending pictures of his garden, all the while making cute faces. It did help give Sunny a bit of a smile, as Sunny caught up with the group again while he let his wound numb up a bit, hoping no one would catch notice of it.</p><p>Hours passed as the sky started to darken, his mom finally arriving from the door as Sunny was napping on the couch. She put her stuff near the counter, where she saw Sunny’s note, and read it carefully. She took a gander at Sunny sleeping peacefully on the couch, nervously, before putting the note back down and gently waking him up.</p><p>“Hey, Sunny? Sweetie?” She softly spoke, as Sunny’s eyes stirred awake. “I’m home…”</p><p>Sunny smiled warmly, his shy lips curling tenderly. “Another long day, mom?”</p><p>Sunny’s mom smiled, not knowing how to talk to her son about the invitation he got, so found it best to discuss it over dinner. Once the two sat down and dug into leftovers from last night, Sunny’s mom couldn’t help but gaze at her son in a nervous candor. What should she say?</p><p>“S-Sunny, dear…” She started.</p><p>Sunny stopped for a moment, just finished with his food. Hero would be proud of how well he was eating nowadays. “Yeah, mom?” He replied, putting his hands down on his lap, one of them gently clutching his hidden wound.</p><p>She looked down anxiously. This was it. “I saw your note about visiting Faraway for Christmas.”</p><p>Sunny’s attention was now squarely on her. Now was the moment of truth on what he would do. “O-Oh, uhh… W-What do you think?”</p><p>Sunny’s mother took a deep breath. “I’m scared, Sunny. I thought we moved here to get away from everything that’s happened, especially after what happened to Mari, and your eye…”</p><p>Sunny gazed downward in defeat, before composing his next words. “I know, Mom. I just don’t want an opportunity like this to go to waste, you know? I mean, it’s not often I’ll get the chance anymore to see my friends there, and you know how much they mean to me.”</p><p>“Yeah, but… why now? After I thought we were all settled here?”</p><p>Sunny took a deep breath himself, trying to remain calm. His wound was practically storming up any emotions he was currently facing, as it kept probing at him. “It’s not like we’re moving back to Faraway, mom. I’m just staying there for a few days, that’s all.”</p><p>“It’s what it feels like. I mean, you barely talk to anyone at your new school.” Sunny’s mom replied, her nervousness starting to reach a fever pitch, the overprotectiveness starting to kick in.</p><p>Sunny was now feeling exasperated. It felt like another round of what Sunny felt was stating what he already knew. “Nobody <em>wants</em> to talk to me at that school, mom! They’re all either afraid of me or wanna make fun of me!”</p><p>“Sunny, sometimes you have to take the initiative and start a conversation with people. You can’t just expect them to just pop up to you at a moment’s notice!” Sunny’s mom spoke up. Now the both of them were getting upset.</p><p>“Easier said than done, mom.” Sunny retorted, the wound starting to hurt him from all the spontaneous movement, but he nonetheless continued to hide it.</p><p>Now she was ANGRY. After spending quite some time in the hospital working on patients, she did not want to come back to hear what she thought was just an outburst on her son’s part. “Sunny…!”</p><p>“No, mom, wait! I have been trying as hard as I can to not be stuck in my bedroom sleeping all throughout the day ever since we left Faraway, you have <em>NO</em> idea the amount of pain I’ve suffered through during the time you were out shopping for furniture!” Sunny shouted as he continued to try and hide the wound to the best of his ability.</p><p>“Then why do I always either see you in your room when I get home or napping like you were before dinner?!”</p><p>“Those are <em>very</em> different circumstances, mom…!”</p><p>“Oh, Jesus Christ, there’s <em>always</em> circumstances with you, Sunny! Excuses every day of the week, there’s a problem! I come home every day to always see that miserable look on your face ever since we moved here! You’re sad one day, lonely the other day, and then you’re all fine and dandy the next! You keep finding new words to describe how you’re still miserable over something that is in the past! Are you even taking your meds?” She shouted back, the two of them locked in this battle of words that was carrying a massive sense of unease.</p><p>“So you’re calling what I went through because of what happened to Mari an excuse?!” Sunny yelled, that particular sentence a stab in the heart for both of them, as Sunny marched closer to her.</p><p>It was then and there that Sunny’s shirt got caught on the tip of the chair, tugging at it, and just like that, Sunny’s mother saw the wound. She clasped her hands near her mouth in horror. “O-Oh my God… Sunny, what happened to you?”</p><p>Sunny’s cheeks flushed in shame, and tears were beginning to etch on his eyes as he tried to storm off.</p><p>“Sunny, tell me! What happened?!”</p><p>“Please, please, <em>PLEASE</em> go to sleep, mom!” Sunny whimpered in a teary-eyed rant.</p><p>She cracked then and there. “I CAN’T SLEEP, GOD DAMN IT! I can barely close my eyes at night without worrying about what’s happened to you, and now there’s blood on your hip!”</p><p>“<strong>BECAUSE YOU NEVER GIVE ME A SECOND TO LET ME LIVE!</strong>” Sunny roared furiously, tears beginning to pour down his eyes as the two stared at each other.</p><p>A moment of silence between the two of them. It was obvious that there were words deep within both of their minds that never left their mouths, and in one ugly moment, they were practically being launched like cannons. Both of them were in tears, each one STRESSED OUT than the other. Sunny broke the silence first.</p><p>“I was out for a morning walk, and I didn’t know I was near Elliot’s house until he came near me… He slammed me to the ground and shot me with a BB gun…” Sunny sobbed, knowing now that there was no hiding this one from her. “He taunted me about what happened to Mari… Called me a killer and that I didn’t deserve to exist…” He felt his breathing get heavy; his mother horrified at what happened to her son that day.</p><p>Sunny’s mother came close to him, and gently embraced him as he wept. “Oh, Sunny…”</p><p>“W-Why’d it have to be me, mom…?” Sunny cried, his self-hatred hollering within the back of his mind. “W-Why me?”</p><p>She shook her head, crying alongside her son.</p><p>“Why does the world hate me?” Sunny mumbled weakly.</p><p>She shushed him right there. “The world does not hate you, Sunny. It gets better from here.”</p><p>The two of them just stood there, hugging each other in a saddened silence. After some time had passed, Sunny broke off the hug and walked to his room, closing the door softly and sitting down on the corner.</p><p>Sunny’s mom knew what to do. She walked over to the phone and dialed the vice principal.</p><p>“Hello there, Miss…” The vice principal tried to begin the conversation, in a tone that oozed indifference, but she cut him off right then and there. Sunny could hear the phone from his room but was kind enough to just simply put his ear near the door.</p><p>“Save the formalities, Mr. Hemlock. I’m making this call quick.” She responded sternly.</p><p>He stuttered for a moment, but then continues, trying to play off the conversation with a suave demeanor that one would usually equate to trying to hit on someone. “Heh, w-well, then I’m sure we can schedule a meeting once winter break ends. Maybe at this one restaurant down the street that I know of…”</p><p>“I’m not here to schedule a meeting, Mr. Hemlock, nor a date. I’m here to give you some words of advice, and to set the record straight. My son…”</p><p>Sunny listened in closer to the door for this part. What was she going to say?</p><p>“Sunny had a bit of a run-in with your kid, Elliot. And he says Elliot shot him with an airsoft gun in the hip, is that correct?” She asked, her voice dripping with an energy that meant business.</p><p>“I-I, uhhh, well, we both know Sunny is a troubled boy… Does it cross your mind that he might be making it up?”</p><p>“Don’t give me your bullshit, Mr. Hemlock. I just want you to know one thing. My son is about to see his friends in Faraway Town for Christmas, and the last thing he needs right now, in December, of all months, is your kid giving him more shit to deal with. And I wanna be sure that I can tell him in the morning tomorrow that this will be the last time he has to deal with me having to tell people to <em>keep their damn hands off my boy</em>.” She demanded, managing to scare the vice principal enough for the phone to hang up prematurely.</p><p>Sunny remembered to breathe. He cried one last time, but it was not in sadness. It was in total, blissful acceptance. He quickly got back onto his phone one last time for the night, going in to Aubrey’s messages.</p><p>
  <strong>Sunny (December 15<sup>th</sup>, 9:55 PM): I’ll be there tomorrow.</strong>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Reminiscence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny is on his way to Faraway as his mother promised, but an unexpected visit prompts him to think about the big questions in his mind.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Mild Content Warning - Not any gore this time around, but there IS mention of the wounds Mari faced in her death and hanging, and there are descriptions of bullet wounds that Sunny faces in another nightmare sequence. Just in case that stuff sets off any anxieties or the like. ^^</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sunny slept well that night… is what he would’ve said if it weren’t for another nightmare. Go figure.</p>
<p>Either Sunny was still somewhat emotionally distraught from the argument with his mother, even after she allowed him to go to Faraway tomorrow, or what Elliot did and said that day was still permeating on his mind, because once he fell asleep that night, he found himself in an orchard.</p>
<p>He rose from the grass to see a field full of white egret orchids, but they looked in mass disrepair. Wilted to nearly unrecognizable proportions, yet massive enough to tangle skyscrapers. He was in a maze, unsure of where anything was, or where he was.</p>
<p>As he trekked through the menagerie of orchids, he was face-to-face with Kel, but there was most-assuredly something amiss. He looked as monochrome as Omori was, and he too was emotionless. His neck contained marks on it that looked as if it were mangled by rope, and bloodied slashes showed themselves once he got close to Sunny, who could only look on in horror.</p>
<p>“How can you defeat that which seethes in your own heart?” The nightmare Kel spoke, his voice seemingly an amalgam of Omori’s voice and Kel’s own. And with every sentence, Kel was now covered in blood of both black and red hues. “Did your friends forgive you out of pity for the boy they thought they knew? Or are they lying to you, protecting you from dangers that you yourself walk into?”</p>
<p>Sunny was AFRAID. With that, a gunshot fired, piercing Sunny clean in the hip as he felt his plates shatter. Church bells began to ring ominously from afar, as he backed away and ran as much as he could, before coming face to face with a monochrome Hero, also coated to the teeth with blood and neck slits. “You think you’re safe from the pain because the truth has finally been revealed, but you’re not. It will tear you down at every precipice until you’re a broken mess, and you can do nothing to stop it.”</p>
<p>Another gunshot roared demonically in the distance, puncturing Sunny’s leg, right through his thigh. He nearly fell to the grass from his knees starting to buckle, but he tried his best to limp away from the apparitions, until he came across a monochrome Basil. “And now that all is said and done, how long is it going to take before you fail your friends again? As things are established to never be the same again? You will make things worse. It’s who you are.”</p>
<p>The next gunshot shot Sunny right in the ear, as Sunny screamed in agony, falling to the floor as the apparitions surrounded him, and to his non-bloodied ear, a monochrome Aubrey. “Your feelings for her are not real. You will fail her like you failed Mari. You will be nothing more than an afterthought, left to die alone and frail like the vermin you know you are deep down. She will hate you. And if she doesn’t, I will <em>make her</em>.”</p>
<p>Sunny knew now that it was probing his feelings for Aubrey, and before he could retort, another gunshot fired one last time, right in his eye. And right in front of him, out of nowhere, an apparition of Elliot, complete with the gun he fired at him with. “You’re a killer. A stone-cold killer. And you know what we do to monsters like you around here? We hurt monsters. Because they aren’t worth a breath of air in this God-given American land. If I were you, I’d sit in the closet of your bedroom and just kill yourself. It’ll save me the bullets from my dad’s favorite gun. But as for this one here, you’ll <em>wish</em> this were the real deal.”</p>
<p>Sunny could take no more of this, his eye seemingly bloodshot with rage, he stared down the barrel of the nightmare Elliot’s gun, and let out a loud “<strong><em>SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!</em></strong>”</p>
<p>The roar from Sunny’s lips were loud enough to shatter the ground, setting the entirety of the orchard ablaze as it also engulfed Sunny, scorching everyone alive as their blackened faces seared to nothingness. By the end of it all, there was no orchard left at all.</p>
<p>He woke back up in White Space, all of his gunshot wounds nonexistent, and right in front of his face was Omori. Sunny stood up angrily, bolting towards Sunny as his hands moved to practically strangle him. He was ENRAGED. Sunny began to smash Omori’s face into the ground. “YOU THINK! YOU CAN THREATEN AUBREY?!”</p>
<p>Omori, per usual, made no change in emotion as he was manhandled into the ground. Sunny was having enough of this, he was FURIOUS. But then was a sight that unnerved Sunny more than the others, potentially even Something. Omori <em>smiled</em>. He was <em>enjoying this</em>. He was <em>grinning</em>. He was ECSTATIC.</p>
<p>Red hands began to engulf the two of them, akin to quicksand, as they forced Sunny off of Omori, who returned to his normal, deadpan stare. They then primarily began to focus on Sunny, pressing him forcefully to the ground as he began to feel his bones break one by one. He forced one of them off his mouth as hard as he could. “W-Why are you doing this to me, Omori?! Gah… answer me!”</p>
<p>“<strong>Because you let me</strong>.” Omori replied blankly, resuming to stare off into space.</p>
<p>“OMORI!” Sunny tried to shout, before the hands clamped him down onto the ground, forcing Sunny to wake up.</p>
<p>Sunny checked his body just to be safe he wasn’t dreaming anymore, a feeling of immense cold sewn into his skin for a moment as he felt the wound from yesterday still present. He laid his head back against the pillow in exhaustion at how the nightmares never seemed to cease even when he told the truth.</p>
<p>He knew that salvation was due to arise when his mother would wake up, though. He checked the clock to be safe. 7:43 AM, the clock read, and indeed, he heard his mother approach the door, calmly opening it.</p>
<p>“Sunny, you awake?” She asked softly, checking to be sure her son was alright, especially after last night.</p>
<p>Sunny nodded sleepily, still somewhat dreary from the nightmare. “Yeah, had another bad dream…”</p>
<p>She leaned into his bed and cradled her son’s face, comforting him as best as she could. She took a soft breath as she gazed out of the window, grey clouds swimming amidst the sky. “Well, you won’t have to worry about any of that now… Get your stuff ready, you’re going to Faraway.” She whispered sweetly.</p>
<p>Sunny hugged his mother tightly, happy tears about to form on his face. Perhaps he’s been too hard on his mother after all. “Thank you, mom…”</p>
<p>An hour passed as Sunny got his clothes, bathroom necessities, laptop, art supplies, and any miscellaneous needs tucked away in a suitcase. Sunny put on his jacket and scarf, taking a glance out his window to see snow beginning to fall like petals of a rose. He figured it was Mari telling him to enjoy his time in Faraway, and that she’d be looking out for him, always.</p>
<p>Sunny took a deep breath. This was it, an actually normal holiday season with his best friends. No more horrific hijinks to interfere, apart from maybe a nightmare or two, which Sunny took Omori’s reappearance as a sign of. But otherwise than that, he was all good to go, as he got inside his mother’s car, suitcase propped in the backseat. They drove off the moment Sunny strapped in.</p>
<p>Sunny wasn’t one for car rides that much, seeing as he grew rather accustomed to walking around the city, but seeing as he probably didn’t want a repeat of yesterday to happen, he figured riding the car was probably his safest bet.</p>
<p>The countryside view from the window was a nice change of pace from the industrialized conglomeration that was the downtown, much as it too looked pretty in the snow from the distance. The forest and the plains that littered the view were now plastered to the brim with snow, and even the mountainsides carried this wintry atmosphere beautifully, as if Sunny was going through a grand adventure, like the ones that he and his friends used to pretend to go on back in their elementary school days.</p>
<p>Around them reaching the interstate, Sunny’s body was feeling too relaxed from having basically been in a chair for half of the morning. It was a pretty long drive from Bayview to Faraway, so his body practically made up its mind for him, as he drifted off into sleep once again.</p>
<p>Sunny opened his eyes, finding himself immediately in White Space. He was expecting another round of horrifying self-loathing and hatred rolled up into more traumatic imagery, but what he got instead was both a delightful change of pace and also an additional anvil on his shoulders.</p>
<p>“Hey there, Sunny.”</p>
<p>It was Mari.</p>
<p>“H-Hi, Mari…” Sunny stuttered, already beginning to feel tears welling up in the bottom of his eyelids. She looked the same as when she left, same iridescent black hair, same white dress, and the same beautiful smile that made him feel all the more furious at himself for what he did to her.</p>
<p>He hugged his sister tightly, as she did the same, knowing full well what Sunny was thinking.</p>
<p>“I… I am so sorry…” He started to cry, not wanting to let go of his dear sister. “I know I need to forgive myself, but… I just wish I could bring you back…”</p>
<p>Mari gently patted his back. Poor kid’s made so much effort to make it to this point and he still can’t find the release he’s practically begging for. “Shhhh, Sunny, it’s okay…”</p>
<p>“N-No!” Sunny shouted a bit, his voice strained from how hard he was crying. “It’s not okay! I’m the reason you’re dead! I’m the reason everyone else is miserable!”</p>
<p>Mari continued to gently rub her brother’s back softly, letting him air his sadness out. “Sunny…”</p>
<p>“Why wasn’t it me instead…?! O-Oh God, why wasn’t it me instead of you?”</p>
<p>Mari gently put a finger to her brother’s lips, and Sunny’s self-hate froze in place in his mind. “Sunny, I think <em>I</em> should be the one apologizing to <em>you</em>. I pushed you so hard on practicing that violin when all you wanted was more time to be with me. And now look what I’ve done to us…” She lamented in a whispered hush. “I’ve hurt you more than you could ever hurt me.”</p>
<p>Sunny’s eyes were as pink as they could get. He wanted to utter one more word to bring himself lower, but he kept his lips sealed.</p>
<p>“Sunny… I was wrong. <em>I’m</em> sorry.” Mari whispered to his ear, continuing to hug him tightly.</p>
<p>Sunny continued cradling his sister in his arms, hugging her back as he felt his breath starting to return. “It’s okay…”</p>
<p>The two of them sat there for a good couple of minutes, before Mari broke the hug, smiling down at her little brother. “I just hope you find it in you to keep trying to forgive yourself.”</p>
<p>Sunny resigned his face to the white ground. “I don’t know, Mari… I’m trying, but… Everywhere I go, I never hear the end about what I’ve done… And with the only people I know who’s forgiven me being so far away from me… It makes it so hard to believe that I’m not the monster they think I am…”</p>
<p>Mari sat down right next to her brother, the two of them staring off into the vast nothingness that was White Space. “Sunny, have I ever told you in Headspace about the people I meet ever since I died?”</p>
<p>Sunny shook his head.</p>
<p>“There was this one guy, his name was James. He was a dad of one kid, and he loved him dearly like he did his own wife. But when the kid started preparing to go to college, they started to bicker. He wanted to become an actor, just like his boyfriend, but his dad was pushing more towards him being an engineer, seeing it as a more efficient job that’d help more people. They fought a lot over the course of the summer, to the point where they didn’t speak much since he left for the campus. James got into a car accident one night by a drunk driver near Thanksgiving, and he unfortunately didn’t make it very long. He told me that seeing his son so distraught and feeling responsible for the rough patch in their relationship saddens him more than dying, but then he told me that he would make sure he was the first one to see his son perform live on stage. He even joked about how he’d be the first one to get popcorn for the show.”</p>
<p>Sunny sat there attentively but confused. What did this have to do with… him? Or better yet, with what he did?</p>
<p>“I’d go over more stories from the people I meet, but then I’d be monologuing.” Mari chuckled her signature sweet chuckle. The one that Hero fell in love with. “I guess what I’m saying is that sometimes, death is its own greatest teacher. It really helps give someone a new perspective on things that they might not have noticed the first time around. And now that I know that you were struggling through so much all because of my gross perfectionism, it kind of… puts me in your shoes, so to speak.”</p>
<p>“But you had so many good things ahead of you, and I took that away…” Sunny muttered in a guilt-stricken tone. “If there’s a God in this earth, he’d send me straight down to hell without even so much as blinking, like what all those people at school would tell me.”</p>
<p>“Well, I can’t speak for everyone on if he’s real or not, because truth is, <em>I</em> don’t even know. But if he is, I’m sure he’d see the story for what it was: an accident.” Mari smiled warmly, wrapping her arm around Sunny’s shoulder. “And if he isn’t, then I’m sure the afterlife will make an exception for you. I’ll slip in some good word for you.”</p>
<p>Mari once again hugged her brother softly. “The fact that you’ve made it this far is an achievement of its own, Sunny. And the gang’s even forgiven you for it, so you can put that bit off your shoulders.”</p>
<p>“But what if <em>I</em> don’t forgive myself? What if I still don’t forgive myself for what I’ve done?” Sunny questioned, looking pleadingly into his sister’s eyes.</p>
<p>“Who’s asking you to do so right away?” Mari chuckled sweetly. “These things take time to heal, Sunny. It’s what makes us human.”</p>
<p>Mari looked to the distance, and right near her, a white door outlined itself before the two of them. “I guess I gotta head back now. But I promise I’ll visit you more often. I can’t promise it’ll be all the time, but I will do my best to.”</p>
<p>Sunny wanted to hold on to her to have her stay with him, but he knew better. It was like what she told him at the window near the lake. “C-Can I at least get one more minute with you?”</p>
<p>Mari smiled sweetly. “Of course you can, little brother.”</p>
<p>They hugged each other tightly again, as Sunny cried one more time into her shoulder. Mari smiled again at her little brother, making sure he can feel at peace in her arms, even if it was only for the moment. “Love you, little brother.”</p>
<p>“Love you too, Mari…” Sunny wistfully whispered, the first clear words he had ever spoken to her just now leaving his lips as they broke the hug.</p>
<p>Mari opened the door and walked right through it, but not without turning her back to it to wave goodbye one more time to her brother. It wasn’t going to be goodbye forever, more so a “so long for now”. The door closed softly as she faded away alongside it, leaving Sunny alone in the vast, yet claustrophobic silence that encroached White Space.</p>
<p>Sunny awoke in the car of his own accord, finding himself waking up to dark grey skies and a sign that read “Welcome to Faraway Town – Home for when you need it” in bold letters zoom past the window. Sunny’s mom noticed her son awaken. “We made it, Sunny! You excited? You were out like a light for the past few hours.”</p>
<p>Sunny nodded sleepily, his eyes feeling slightly funny from what felt like dried tears across his cheeks. He must’ve been crying a bit in his sleep. Hopefully, his mother didn’t notice.</p>
<p>After about thirty minutes, the car gently stopped right near Kel and Hero’s house, all covered in snow and Christmas decorations. Given how Kel’s family apparently never knew the word “subtlety”, the house was covered from patio to rooftop in Christmas lights that were as in-your-face as if it were landing lights in an airfield. Sunny couldn’t help but smirk at the over-extravagance.</p>
<p>Sunny put on his coat and scarf, and grabbed his luggage before looking to his mother, who was smiling sweetly at her son. “What are you looking at me for? Go have fun, sweetie.”</p>
<p>The two quickly hugged for a moment, with his mother gently kissing him on the forehead before looking him clean in the eyes. “There is never a moment where I am not proud of you, Sunny. Mari would be so happy for you.”</p>
<p>“I know she would, mom.” Sunny responded as such, having technically just had experience in that department.</p>
<p>She smiled warmly, before Sunny got out of the car. With one last wave goodbye for now, Sunny’s mother turned the car around and drove off towards the exit of the neighborhood. It was now just Sunny and the walkway up to Kel’s place.</p>
<p>He took his best steps forward as the luggage made tracks in the snow, before reaching the front door. Taking one last little breath, he knocked on the door calmly.</p>
<p>A dog barked from within the house, and with it, Kel’s voice. “HECTOR! Settle down, boy! I’ll get the door!”</p>
<p>And with that, and with one swift opening of the door, Kel and Sunny were face to face with each other.</p>
<p>“Sunny…?” Kel asked, in total surprise and excitement at seeing his best friend back.</p>
<p>“Hey, Kel… Merry Christmas.” Sunny replied, smiling shyly but still with enough of a presence to make himself known. Internally, he was laughing a bit at the faint irony that it was now Sunny on the front end of the door with Kel on the inside, as if the roles behind Sunny’s recovery were spontaneously reversed.</p>
<p>What he was greeted with was a bear hug from Kel, who patted his back warmly. “Sunny! Ohhhh, it is so nice to see you again, man!”</p>
<p>The two hugged for a bit in a way that only the best of bros would, with Hero coming close to the door, to see Kel and Sunny locked in Kel’s signature bear hugs. He smiled, starting to join in. “Kel, you doing group hugs without me? And in this weather?”</p>
<p>He joined in soon after, dragging the two of them inside to not have them stuck in the cold, closing the door behind them. “We missed you, Sunny.” Hero whispered therapeutically to Sunny, feeling as if Mari was with them too, joining the group hug in spirit.</p>
<p>Sunny was in bliss, a feeling he hadn’t felt in so long, and what had felt so far to him.</p>
<p>He was home.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Reunion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny gets reacquainted with his closest friends, and his closest nightmares.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>First off, I wanna let you know if that there've been any changes to the early chapters, this is deliberate for means of fixing things that made no sense, or were a little too deviant from canon events in the game. The major one being what happened to Sunny's eye, which I had originally interpreted as being heavily damaged, but not above some medicinal care to remedy it back to normal. Upon re-watching the fight with Basil in the Sunny Route's finale, I can confirm that that eye is kaput, what with all the blood that came out of his eye and me missing the garden shears in the bottom right of the screen for the first few times I saw the fight. And given how one of the cruxes of the story is Aubrey and Sunny getting together as a possible couple, I saw me hand-waving the eye injury as not only copping out of writing Sunny as if his eye injury practically never happened, but as carrying a false stereotype of boys needing to be physically perfect without any faults at all to win the affection of their love interests. I don't think anyone saw that implication, and maybe I'm just being nervously over-analytical again, but if I'm not the only one that came across that implication, then I apologize. ^^</p><p>Any other changes were small, just to clear up any logistical errors. :P</p><p>I have admittedly not played Omori myself, and my recognition of the plot was by both watching close friends stream the game for themselves, and repeated re-watches of videos on the game. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it should provide context for any occasional goof-up here and there as mentioned above. I might get the game someday, but I get a little too scared with horror games, especially one with children being the subject matter. One day, I will, for sure, but just not yet. xD</p><p>Otherwise than that, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The group hug ended as Sunny took notice of how Kel and Hero both were in their night clothes. Kel, being the gym guy, wore a pair of sweatpants and a tank top with his team number. Hero, being the classier one, wore a long-sleeved, night blue set of pajamas akin to the one he wore the night before they went to Basil’s. His surprise arrival worked out rather well. He quickly checked the clock and calendar: December 16<sup>th</sup>, 9:46 PM. “Must’ve caught you guys at an unexpected time.” Sunny smirked, a slight paroxysm of uncharacteristic confidence exuded from his voice.</p><p>Kel chuckled, his smug grin extending from ear-to-ear. He hadn’t changed a bit. “Hey, there’s no such thing as unexpected times when you’re involved! We’re just glad you could come!”</p><p>Hero chuckled back. “C’mon, the rest of the gang’s upstairs. They don’t know you’re here yet.” He winked, as he led Kel and Sunny up to their room.</p><p>Sunny’s head tilted a little. Did Aubrey get his message yesterday? “Huh? I thought I said I was gonna be here today last night?” He quickly checked his phone, and sure enough, he forgot to send it. “Oh… that figures.” He flushed up a bit, deleting the message on his chat box.</p><p>Kel smirked. “Looks like you and I both have a bad case of forgetting important stuff, huh?”</p><p>“Yeah, but forgetting homework until the last late day isn’t quite as lenient as forgetting a text message, Kel.” Hero chimed in. Kel also flushed a bit now.</p><p>“…Good point.”</p><p>They reached Hero’s room, where Aubrey and Basil were lounging on his couch, with Aubrey seemingly playing a game on Hero’s console. He motioned Sunny to stay put for a second, while he and Kel properly introduced him. Sunny could hear the noises of the game, and Aubrey’s reactions to it. Hearing Aubrey’s voice so close to him again was enough to flush in the face yet again, as he leaned up against the wall as they entered the room.</p><p>“C’mon! This one guy peeks around the corner with his super charged when I don’t even have my smoke bomb ready! How the hell is that fair?” Aubrey shouted, to which Kel chuckled at her expense. “You have a dodge roll from the helmet you're wearing! You can use that, y’know?”</p><p>“It was still charging, you dumbass!” Aubrey shouted back, on the tinge of smacking him upside the head.</p><p>Hero cleared his throat. “In other news…” He beckoned Sunny forward with his free hand. Sunny followed his lead, as Hero placed his hand on Sunny’s shoulder. “Say hi to Sunny, everyone!” And just like that, Sunny found himself face-to-face with the group. He smiled weakly and shyly waved his hand.</p><p>Aubrey dropped the controller and Basil was the first to rise from the couch. “SUNNY!” He excitedly yelled, leaping himself onto Sunny in a rather affectionate hug as he caught himself nuzzling Sunny’s cheek. The two of them blushed a bit, before Sunny chuckled shyly.</p><p>“S-Sorry…!” Basil stammered, before meekly breaking off the hug and rubbing his arm.</p><p>“It’s okay, no harm, no foul!” Sunny reassured sweetly, seeing a flushed smile return to Basil’s face.</p><p>Aubrey was the next one to hug him tightly, and in that moment, he felt his entire vision be clouded by pink. Pink on his cheeks and the pink of her hair. Similarly to the hug with Basil, the two of them were a tad flushed in the face for a moment, before they disembarked from the hug. She smirked, and gently nudged Sunny on the shoulder. “Glad you could make it, bud! Why didn’t you tell us you were coming?”</p><p>Sunny chuckled, a slight hint of being flustered hidden beneath it. “Funny story, I thought I sent a message to you saying I was gonna be here today, but I forgot to send it apparently.”</p><p>Aubrey found herself laughing rather unprofessionally at that. “Haha! Sunny, sometimes you remind me of Kel!”</p><p>Sunny took that remark in stride, to which Kel pouted. “Yeah, whatever.”</p><p>The gang sat amongst the couch in Hero’s room and reconvened, with Aubrey and Basil both staying the night here for just tonight, if only to see Sunny arrive. Each of them were all in their pj’s and each had their own quilts and pillows, but now wasn’t the time for them to go to sleep immediately. It <em>was</em> a sleepover after all.</p><p>Hero kept the bed, seeing as it was his room, Kel, got the left side of the corner couch while Basil got the other side, and Sunny and Aubrey each shared an air mattress but one that was big enough to give the two a fair distance. Sunny couldn’t help but blush a little at the fact that he was essentially sleeping next to his crush, but he hoped Aubrey didn’t notice that bit.</p><p>They each played games on Hero’s console, like party games that Kel kept a hold of from when they were little. They even got a chance to sneak in a round of cards like they used to do in Sunny’s old treehouse. Basil won again, happening to have the lucky hand once more like when he floored Kel in that round from years ago.</p><p>“So, Sunny, how’s your new home in Bayview?” Hero asked once the game of cards ended, with Kel sitting in the corner in mock sorrow for his loss.</p><p>Sunny gazed at the screen for a moment, seeing Aubrey and Basil racing each other in a Captain Spaceboy kart racing game, a rip-off of another successful kart racer. It wasn’t of the best quality, and they all knew it, but it was in a way so fascinatingly bad that they couldn’t help but love it. Nonetheless, Sunny did hear Hero’s question, and reminding himself mentally of the gunshot wound Elliot gave him, answered as honestly as he could without revealing the wound part of the story.</p><p>“It’s alright, I guess? It’s definitely a change of pace from a small suburban town, but come on…” He pointed to Aubrey and Basil, who the former of which just so happened to clip out of the map’s boundaries, of which they both laughed hard. Basil definitely seemed a little bit more confident and more comfortable around Aubrey compared to before Sunny moved out, his demeanor still shy as Sunny’s, but definitely lacking the metaphysical horror they both shared a few months ago. It was apparently obvious Basil was forgiven for his part in what happened to Mari, which even managed to lighten Sunny’s baggage off of his shoulders too. “…nothing in Bayview has anything on this.”</p><p>Hero chuckled. “Yeah, I guess so. Much as college has its perks, this is just where it feels like home.”</p><p>Aubrey’s laughing slightly broke the conversation. “GUYS, ARE YOU SEEING THIS? I COMPLETELY FLEW OFF THE MAP! WHO PLAY-TESTED THIS SHIT?”</p><p>“Someone as high as a kite, Aubrey.” Sunny replied nonchalantly, to which Aubrey started laughing harder.</p><p>Sunny got an idea. He figured it was time to show off his new hobby to everyone else. He pulled his luggage close to him, unzipped it, and pulled out his sketchbook. “Oh, guys, wanna see what I’ve been doing the last few months?”</p><p>They all gazed at Sunny’s sketchbook excitedly, Basil and Aubrey most of all. Sunny opened the book, unfurling through quite a few pages.</p><p>The first one of note, titled “Through the Deep Woods”, was a rendition of Pyrefly Forest, with child-like variants of them (with Sunny in Omori’s place) exploring through its mighty depths. Aubrey let out an uncharacteristic “D’awwww…” at seeing essentially the whole gang in such wholesomely-crafted detail, especially with the little details he remembered about all of them from their youth. “This one was based off of dreams I’d have of all of you. I decided to use light watercolor to help establish that ethereal tone of the piece, giving it that dream-like quality!”</p><p>Basil chirped in admirably. “You even drew me watering the flowers in the forest! That’s so adorable!”</p><p>Aubrey nodded, to which she gasped in adoration at this one detail. “Is that my bat? Oh, Sunny, you certainly know how well I’d do in a fight!”</p><p>Sunny chuckled, patting himself on the back for how well he captured everyone’s essence in the painting. If there was one thing he was willing to give Headspace, it had quite the canvas to draw inspiration from. He flipped to the next painting, which looked comparatively more mature. Titled “Lone Sentry”, this one was a fairly complex painting that detailed a female knight clad in steel armor that looked remarkably like Aubrey carrying a claymore longsword as a black, one-eyed dragon sweeps in from above, maw gated open as smoke peered from its mouth.</p><p>“Okay, that one is just pure badass.” Aubrey muttered, wowed by how much the piece contrasted the one from earlier. “Reminds me of those medieval legends we’d read about in school, only <em>way</em> cooler.”</p><p>“That dragon looks sooooooooo sick!” Kel shuddered in awe.</p><p>“Sunny, you are such a talented artist!” Basil complimented, like a little brother would their older brother at their accomplishments.</p><p>Aubrey nodded along. “Basil’s right, y’know? This is honestly some of the best art I’ve ever seen. This shit should go in, like, an art museum.”</p><p>Sunny flushed hard at such high praise, before flipping to his third piece. Titled “Orchids at War”, this piece was simply two people fighting amongst an orchard full of white egret orchids. One side was fully grown, and the sun shined down on that side, while the other one was wilted and dying. It gave off the tone of a more dramatic, sadder piece. One that was more contemplative than the rest. Sunny gazed at the piece for a second, his mind equating the orchard towards the more harrowing elements of his life, and the recent nightmare he had to put up with, but nonetheless persisted with explaining his piece all the same. Basil was the first to comment. “Sunny, this might be my favorite of the bunch! You have a very neat visual eye. Maybe you could paint my garden one of these days when the snow melts?”</p><p>Sunny nodded candidly. “I’d love to, Basil.”</p><p>Basil clasped his hands joyously. “Great to hear, Sunny! I’ll let you know when I get the chance!”</p><p>Sunny kept showing more of his artwork to the group, ranging from cheery and jovial, to downbeat and esoteric. It all came together with this one piece, titled “Equites Somnium”, which was a drawing of the entire group in medieval attire, making poses akin to a movie poster. Sunny in hooded armor with a sword unsheathed, Basil in priest’s clothing casting plant-based magic, Aubrey in knight’s armor carrying a silver great axe, Hero carrying restorative magic in a healer’s robe, and Kel carrying explosive arrows in a bow entirely in an archer’s attire. And to cap it off, Mari wore a princess’ robe in a praying position, everyone set up akin to church window art.</p><p>Everyone was amazed at the piece, and were also especially moved by the tribute to Mari, Hero in particular. “Now <em>that</em> is my favorite piece, Sunny. You’re a natural.”</p><p>Sunny was overjoyed at such high remarks from his friends about his artwork, as they all got together again to form another group hug. Sunny wished this moment could last forever, especially with Aubrey being the closest to his cheek. It was at that moment that what was simply a meager crush spring boarded into full-on love. Sunny was infatuated with her.</p><p>At about an hour later since the group hug, everyone fell asleep in their places, Kel and Basil on the opposite ends of the corner couch, Hero in his bed, and Sunny and Aubrey on the air mattress. Even Hector slept close to the pair rather than his usual bed, as if he too were matchmaking the two.</p><p>In the background was a movie they all fell asleep to, an action-thriller that seemed to focus heavily on dreams within dreams and spinning tops, but they all fell asleep after an action scene involving a rotating corridor, which Sunny couldn’t help but find so cool that they were able to pull that off. It even helped distract from a very odd cameo from the actor of Space Boyfriend. Maybe he had unpaid royalties.</p><p>But he too must’ve fallen asleep at some point after the movie finished, because he then awoke in a church. The same church he knew from Black Space. But something about it was different from his last visit.</p><p>In place of the windows he saw from his last encounter were recreations of his “Equites Somnium” piece, only now having corroded beyond recognition, and with Sunny’s face in the window art having been smashed open as if someone struck a baseball through that part of the glass. Gone were the scribbles sitting on the wooden chairs as the congregation. It was just Sunny… and the Stranger.</p><p>“It seems you’ve returned, Sunny. I apologize it had to be during such dire circumstances.” The Stranger spoke, his signature amalgamation of Basil’s voice and the voice of Basil as a child echoing throughout the cathedral. “You haven’t forgiven yourself for what happened to her, and yet you persist to move on from everything as if you did.”</p><p>Sunny was still unnerved by this chance encounter, but nonetheless tries to remain calm. “Why is this happening to me…? I thought I did everything to stop all of this. To stop <em>him</em>.”</p><p>The Stranger shook his head. “Your consistency to view yourself as a blight upon humanity for your wrongdoing has caused Omori to resurface. And now he will stop at nothing to return everything to the way he likes, even if it kills him too. White Space and Black Space are converging amongst itself, and the dream is collapsing. Omori intends to restructure everything until all you can see is Something, and nothing more. You would be his vessel, a passenger in your own body with him at the helm until he reunites with Mari.”</p><p>The revelation shook Sunny to his core. Omori’s master plan was essentially to possess him. He had even tried this during their first fight, toying with Sunny’s welled-up suicidal ideations like a cat with yarn. But this time around, Sunny pieced together Omori’s mindset: if he couldn’t have him, no one else could.</p><p>“…He’s taking me with him.” Sunny whispered, the realization continuing to mount fear into his mind. The concept of Omori blankly beckoning Sunny’s body to his doom bringing back unfavorable memories of Omori forcing Sunny to scribble out Mari’s likenesses in the photo album in his sleep, to put it lightly. “How do I stop him this time?”</p><p>“You must learn to forgive yourself, Sunny. It’s the only way.”</p><p>Sunny felt his sadness began to dwell, and with that, doubt. He knew now that forgiving himself was the only chance he had to stopping Omori before he could finish what he started. But how could he when he’s the reason Mari’s dead? Why is everyone insisting he forgives himself of something so horrible?</p><p>The candles lighting little of the church then all went out simultaneously, nothing but darkness surrounding them now. Sunny felt cold. His breath becoming visible amidst the freezing air.</p><p>N-No… this couldn’t be…</p><p>Something.</p><p>When he looked up from his shivering, he was face-to-face with Something constricting itself around the Stranger, who was limp as cloth, not even remotely breathing as he was swallowed whole by the gaping maw of this beast. It was towering near the roof of the church, its form near unidentifiable but webbed around the back of the hall. Sunny could barely make out what he saw, but could see its body was in the shape of a beating human heart, its legs shaped analogous to the goliath birdeater spider, its maw designed after an anglerfish with the spiked tail of a leviathan, its signature one eye coursing right just above its sharp jaws, and it was speaking in reversed breathing and ominous whining, as if in discomfort. All it could say was “Su…nny…” in an almost-loving voice as its eye now solely focused on Sunny.</p><p>The voice of the Stranger echoed within the halls of the church, deep from within the heart of the monster.</p><p>“<em>Run</em>.”</p><p>With haste, Sunny ran fearfully away from Something, as it began charging towards him, the same affectionate verbiage of his name being breathed out towards him as he felt the chairs try to stop him. “Su…nny…”</p><p>The benches kept swerving into his field of view, trying to intercept him as the cold air kept getting more freezing, turning the flowers into ice. Even the columns holding the flowers up began to try and stop him, veering quickly into Sunny’s path as he sprinted past it, his breath getting heavy.</p><p>“Su…nny…”</p><p>The beast kept moaning his name endearingly as he kept running as fast as he could, until he felt the ground he was running on begin to twist, just like in the movie he was watching. Sunny stumbled to maintain his footing, and landed on the wall. Quickly regaining himself as the beast kept getting closer to him, Sunny kept running as the entirety of the church kept spinning slowly.</p><p>Trying to adapt to his constantly changing surroundings, Sunny found himself closer and closer to the doors of the church, but found they were barred shut every time he tried to open them. The beast kept getting closer and closer to him, with Omori’s face peering out of its creepily-smiling maw, murder in his expression.</p><p>Sunny, in rapid thinking, grabbed one of the chairs and threw it at the wooden doors, smashing right through it just before he could feel Something’s breathing get closer to his neck. But now he found himself on a roof of a hospital. The very same hospital he woke up from. The entirety of the metal supports were gone, and it was nothing but the dark below.</p><p>Omori sliced his way through the door with his knife, walking menacingly towards Sunny as he gripped the knife intensely. “<strong>Do not resist me, Sunny. I’m doing what’s best for the both of us.</strong>”</p><p>“This is what’s best for us?! To have me sit and watch as you take my life away from me by FORCE?!” Sunny shouted back. “All just for a <em>chance</em> of being with Mari?!”</p><p>“<strong>You do not deserve the torment of reality. Only I can protect you from the world laying its cruel hands on you, just like what it used to be. But then you sought the truth. You sought to rid yourself of me. Of what we created. To <em>help</em> you. And yet, you don’t have the audacity to move on. It’s apparent you need me, Sunny. Because without me, you’re the murderer they know you are. But with me, we can finally be together with Mari again, and live the life you cut so heinously short.</strong>” Omori countered, his child-like voice making the psychotic words all the more terrifying.</p><p>Sunny had either one of two options right now. Either submit to Omori and let his life be forfeit permanently at the hands of a sociopathic alter ego hellbent on reunion with his dead sister, or take the jump that he had decided not to do when he woke from the hospital, in the hopes he’d wake up.</p><p>“<strong>It’s a long way down… Do you want to jump?</strong>” Omori reached out his hand, as his offer of letting him take control. But Sunny already made up his mind.</p><p>Sunny let himself step over the edge, his back facing the deep descent to the ground as he watched Omori gaze blankly, but defeatedly, as Sunny escaped. The wind loudly whirring past his ears until he hit the cold, dark ground of the abyss from the eighty-story dream hospital, until all he could see was blackness.</p><p>Sunny gasped and woke up quickly on the air mattress, distressed at the nightmare, as Hector gazed at him in worry. Or at least, how a dog would communicate worry. Sunny took a deep breath to control his breathing, hoping he didn’t wake up anyone in the bedroom as he pet Hector compassionately.</p><p>“I’m okay, boy. Don’t worry.” He reassured the dog with his pets, which had Hector wag his tail to and fro lovingly.</p><p>Sunny quietly left the mattress and walked towards the bathroom as silently as he could, closing the bathroom door in the process. He gazed at himself in the mirror, and for a split second, he could’ve sworn he saw a ghostly apparition of himself, only looking similar to how he would see the ghost of Mari, with its neck craned and its mouth open way too far, its eyes scribbled out as if it was a child’s drawing.</p><p>He felt his nerves shake as it stared him down, not being able to move a muscle as he was now AFRAID.</p><p>He felt it leer closer to him, but before Sunny could scream, he remembered Mari’s words.</p><p>“Sunny… Take a deep breath… Don't be afraid. It's not as scary as you think.”</p><p>Sunny took a moment to breathe, and CALMED DOWN. He turned on the lights in the bathroom, in which the apparition vanished. Just to be safe, he turned off the lights again, and sure enough, no nightmarish version of him. He took a sigh of relief, as he turned the lights back on.</p><p>Sunny turned on the sink, and gently applied water to his face. He learned this during one of his nights at Bayview after a bad dream, where he would apply cold water to his face to relax himself a little, just to remind his mind that it wasn’t real.</p><p>He gazed at himself in the mirror and sighed contemplatively. He took the Stranger’s words in rather uncertainly. How was it possible to redeem someone who ruined not just one life, but many as a result of his actions, whether intended or not?</p><p>He opened the bathroom door, turned off the lights, and closed the door, but was then face-to-face with Hero. He wanted to yelp in surprise, but could only muster a gasp. “Oh, H-Hero, you scared the hell out of me for a sec!” Sunny whispered.</p><p>“Oh, sorry. I was just wanting to check in on you, I saw you were having a bad dream. Wanna talk about it?” Hero asked softly, sitting down on the stairs.</p><p>Sunny wanted to say no, to just say how he was alright and got over it, but he knew Hero was good at helping Sunny calm down just as well as Mari did. Plus, he knew that the first step to forgiving himself was to say something. He nodded, and sat down with Hero on the stairs.</p><p>“There’s been… a lot on my mind.” Sunny sighed, trying to sugarcoat it a little bit for Hero to easily digest. “I keep having nightmares about everything that’s happened. It’s like ever since I admitted what happened with Mari to all of you in the hospital that day… it’s like my own inner demons want to keep clawing further and further at me even when I told the truth, scrounging for everything that’s left of me.”</p><p>Hero nodded along, listening very closely to Sunny’s words. Though it sucked to be reminded of what happened to Mari… he knew Sunny needed this.</p><p>“People in my new school… they like to pick on me. Calling me a ‘murderer’, a ‘freak’, and the like… I think rumors must’ve spread around about what happened. And I’ve never heard the end of it since. Especially when the vice principal and his kid are the ones that like to pester me about it… I kinda hid myself away again, only keeping in contact with you guys and my mother… I would still go to school and go on walks and the like, but I would always try never to draw attention to myself.”</p><p>Sunny continued, not missing a beat. “I sometimes wonder if things would’ve been different for me… if it was me that fell down those stairs instead of Mari… If maybe it’d offer people solace of not having to put up with me, if they think of me as such… I struggle so hard to forgive myself for what I did to her, even when I promised her I would, and I would make an effort to do it every day, but for every one step I make forward, I’m dragged three steps back. I just… don’t know what I need to do to get it to go away.”</p><p>Hero put his arm around Sunny. “I know what you mean. When I lashed out at Kel after Mari’s death, regardless of what caused it… my parents came to me first, completely ignoring Kel, the one who I truly hurt. My little brother. It took a lot out of me, seeing myself so angry like that where I’d treat my own brother as if he were nothing more than a nuisance. I did eventually learn to forgive myself, but… it didn’t come with the wave of a magic wand. It took time, and sometimes it was slow, but eventually, I stopped seeing myself as ‘the guy who snapped at his brother like an animal’, and instead as, ‘the guy who made a mistake but is learning from it and willing to help others do the same.’”</p><p>He patted Sunny on the head. “It’s like what I told you at the hospital, right? Mari and I both know you’re not a monster. What happened that day was an accident. A freak accident? Maybe, but not one that deserves being dwelled on for too long. You and Basil were both kids then, how could we really be mad with kids who, yes, did something horrible, but were nonetheless kids. It’d be another story if you weren’t remorseful for what you did, and we all know you were, and still are. Point is, it’ll take time, but give it that, and you’ll find the courage you need to lift the weight off of your shoulders. And if you need anything, we’re always right here for you.”</p><p>Sunny looked up at Hero, tears welling up in his eyes. Hero smiled. “Come here.”</p><p>The two of them hugged on the stairs in that moment, as Sunny wept quietly in Hero’s arms for as long as he needed to.</p><p>Mari would’ve been so proud.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Advice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny goes out shopping for Christmas gifts, and finds himself without words at what he finds.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sooooooo, turns out I had Captain Spaceboy's name correct the whole time... well, at least I fixed that one. xD</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sunny was in the kitchen as the morning sun started to rise, already dressed up in his day clothes. This time, it was different than the usual black vest over a collared white shirt and khaki shorts like he used to wear. He was gonna try something new every day. Now he was wearing a fresh set of jeans with a dark blue t-shirt and a grey hoodie. His antidepressants were nearby for him to take as he fixed himself up an early breakfast. It was a modest set of pancakes, baked with as much handiwork as Sunny could possess, and for not usually being the cook of the group, the pancakes were soft, yet tangibly cooked together.</p><p>Feeling particularly testing this morning, he fetched himself some chocolate chips from the fridge and put them into the batter to be baked into the dough. Once the batter was well-cooked, he could see the chocolate being well-melt into the dough, which earned a proud smile from himself. He set down the pancakes on a wide enough plate in case anyone wated some, while he took two for himself, gently applying the syrup, and then ate away.</p><p>Just like how Mari would’ve cooked it. He knew he did her proud with what he put together.</p><p>Once finished, he got himself a glass of orange juice and put an antidepressant tablet into his mouth, then took a soft drink of his glass. He knew it was routine to do, but he was always willing to find ways to make even the mundane just a little better for him now. He checked his wound, still bandaged and obviously still hurting to a slight degree. Sunny found it to be a miracle nobody had found out yet. He continued his drink, then washed both the plate and the cup, putting both away in the dishwasher.</p><p>Little did he know that Basil watched him finish, and was smiling quite enthused at him. Sunny was shook for a second, not expecting to have been jumped again by a good friend, much less a second time today.</p><p>“O-Oh shi…” Sunny caught himself, not wanting to wake anyone up. Basil giggled playfully. “You scared the hell out of me, Basil!” He whispered, a look of surprise as his blonde friend seemingly apparated out of nowhere.</p><p>“Hehe, sorry about that! You just looked so adorable being all concentrated on making breakfast.” Basil giggled again, Sunny sensing a hint of playfulness having grown on Basil since they last met before he moved. Sunny couldn’t help but smile back, just happy to see Basil back to being his happier self.</p><p>“Is this Fluster Sunny week?” Sunny chuckled, smirking at his friend’s obvious attraction towards him. He was at least happy Basil took the unrequited feelings well, so much so that he wasn’t bothered by Basil still occasionally getting all cutesy with him. Quite frankly, Sunny didn’t mind it at all.</p><p>Basil giggled back. “Oh, always! It helps the confidence for both of us!”</p><p>Sunny rolled his eyes back playfully, to which Basil giggled again. “The others should be waking up shortly, I just wanted to come down and check in on you. How are you doing this morning?”</p><p>Sunny smiled earnestly for the first time in a while, not counting last night. “Somewhat of a rough sleep, I’ll admit, but I’ll be okay.”</p><p>“Awww, well, if you need anything, you know I’m here for you, Sunny.” Basil answered back genuinely, less like an infatuated boy and more like a close friend. “And you know I mean that, right?” Basil held out his pinky finger towards Sunny.</p><p>Sunny smiled back at him, linking his pinky with Basil’s. “I know you do.” They both hugged softly for a bit, which Basil embraced happily.</p><p>After they broke the hug, Kel was the first to come down, his bedhead making his hair look like a tornado just swept through it with no survivors. “Thought I heard cooking down here! Morning, guys.”</p><p>“You slept well, by that hair.” Sunny chuckled.</p><p>Basil chimed in. “Trust me, I heard him sleep well.”</p><p>Kel clutched his heart in mockingly dramatic betrayal. “Et tu, you two? I don’t snore… that loud!”</p><p>Sunny gave him the biggest “oh, <em>really</em>” expression, to which all three of them laughed. Hero and Aubrey were next to join. Sunny nodded to Hero, seeing as they already had their good mornings in the form of a cooldown talk. As for Aubrey, Sunny couldn’t help but blush a little as she approached, nodding gently at her as a form of a good morning, any words he could speak of getting caught in his throat. God, she was so pretty.</p><p>“Morning, Aubrey.” He finally spoke, a little more nervous and slightly stammered than he would’ve liked. <em>Please, don’t notice that stammer.</em><em> Please, don’t notice that stammer. Please, don’t notice that stammer.</em> He thought to himself worryingly.</p><p>“Hm? Oh, morning, Sunny! Slept well?” Aubrey smiled warmly, a nice contrast to her “tough girl” image that she was starting to relax on.</p><p><em>THANK YOU!</em> Sunny mentally praised, as he replied, a little more relaxed. “Kinda? Had a bit of a rough dream for a bit, sorry if you noticed me tossing and turning a bit here and there.”</p><p>She chuckled kindly. “Oh, really? I didn’t notice it; I was out like a light during the movie last night. Sorry to hear that, though.”</p><p>Sunny shrugged casually. “It’s fine, I’m over it anyway.” He reassured, smiling back at her.</p><p>The group all had Sunny’s chocolate chip pancakes that morning, and each one of them were in adoration of what Sunny had made. Aubrey, especially, to Sunny’s joy. “These are easily the best pancakes I’ve ever had.” She muttered blissfully.</p><p>After they had all finished, Sunny took the time to pick up each of their dishes as they all got cleaned up and washed them all accordingly. While he did so, he let his mind ponder on the talk he and Hero had. In his mind, he let his words replay for a moment, to truly digest what Hero had tried to tell him.</p><p>“It’ll take time, but give it that, and you’ll find the courage you need to lift the weight off of your shoulders. And if you need anything, we’re always right here for you.”</p><p>How much time was Sunny expected to wait for the courage to forgive himself? He knew the Stranger’s warning to Sunny, before he entered the fray, of what Omori was planning.</p><p>“You must learn to forgive yourself, Sunny. It’s the only way.”</p><p>Being a vessel for Omori’s suicidal desperation was most assuredly not going to end well for either party. But forgiving himself was going to be a bigger hurdle for him to vault over. He knew what Omori was going to do if he didn’t, but there was no way he could just say “oh, I forgive myself” and have it all be miraculously okay by the end. Why did he deserve forgiveness to begin with? Was it all just a ploy to shove Omori down the depths of his mind once more, to be forgotten? Was he just a pawn in the machinations of his mind? A shepherd for his remaining specks of depression to herd together like sheep in a farm?</p><p>No, now was not the time for the moping philosophy again. He saw the Stranger get consumed by Something in the Church. If he was going to stop Omori, he was going to fulfill his request.</p><p>Once everyone got all cleaned up, Polly stopped by to pick up Basil. With one last little hug, they promised to see each other again tomorrow, or some other time today if need be.</p><p>Aubrey was next to go, seeing as she and Kim were gonna go hang out at the park later with Vance and the others. She hugged Sunny again, and also promised to see each other again.</p><p>Kel grinned from ear-to-ear. “Looks like it’s a boys’ day today, amirite? Since we got the whole house to ourselves, is there anything you all wanna do?”</p><p>Hero rung in. “Well, maybe we could go shopping for Christmas gifts for Aubrey and Basil? I mean, we are gonna be together on Christmas Eve, like we planned. And if we go now, we could maybe stay ahead of the prices at Othermart.”</p><p>“That’s actually not a bad idea. I’ve been meaning to do so at some point while I’m here.” Sunny agreed, with Kel nodding along.</p><p>“Then it’s settled then! Operation Price Gouged Gifts is a go!” Kel pumped his fist in the air, being the ever-so-excitable goofball he was.</p><p>The trio got their coats and warm gear on, before stepping outside. It was around 33 degrees outside, and with about two inches worth of snow. The trek from their place to Othermart wasn’t admittedly too bad, all things considered.</p><p>The store from the inside also, mercifully, wasn’t horrendously packed to the brim with caveats of adults scampering like headless chickens for gifts on sale. It was a massive multiplex of Christmas retail as far as the eye can see, not unlike the pharmacies Sunny would see in Bayview, where they’d stock up on anything for the holidays… in mid-October.</p><p>“Alright, take a look around, see what you think would make great gifts.” Hero spoke, and then the trio split up for different sections of the mall. Sunny figured he’d look for stuff relating to Aubrey first. What would she like? Maybe something for Bunbun? No, too plain. Maybe a new bat? Well, what was wrong with her current one?</p><p>It was a tough thought to process, surprisingly enough. How exactly would he make the girl he likes happy this holiday season? He knew she was into bunnies, that part was certain. But it’d be a little awkward giving something cutesy to someone who’s grown up. Sure, she’s still into bunnies, but that’s not her only interest. With age comes a growth of interests, a broadening of horizons. And Sunny wanted to give her something that, sure, may remind her of her childhood, but also something that, whether situational or not, was going to be something that she was going to remember.</p><p>Sunny remembered the time where Basil took a picture of a group during a very brutal rainstorm, and he remembered Aubrey’s old pink raincoat. It’s probably obvious at that point that the raincoat might not fit her in this day and age. Sunny looked through the coats section, and found a perfectly-sized hoodie. There was even a bunny embroidered on the top right, near the hood. It was perfect!</p><p>Sunny snatched the hoodie and put it in the shopping basket. Next was Basil, as he walked to the greenery section.</p><p>While flowers would probably be a perfect gift for him, given the temperature and how he’d have to keep them watered and left out in the open for so many days. And given that they were going to be out a lot, it was going to be tough to stay on top of that one 100% of the time.</p><p>Now that he thought about it, a lot of the greenery items were probably going to become wilted and the like by the time Christmas Day rolled around. He then had a better idea. He went over to the photography section, and near a section focused entirely on cameras, there was a section entirely dedicated to photo albums.</p><p>One in particular stood out the most to Sunny from the selection. A cute, green, flower-themed photo album with small plastic sunflowers around the spine of the book. He put that one in his basket. Now for Kel and Hero.</p><p>For Kel, the answer was obviously a no-brainer. A basketball game for the console of his own.</p><p>Hero was one that also took a bit of thinking. But eventually, Sunny found a cookbook that definitely reminded him the most of Mari’s cooking. While Hero may be going for a doctor’s degree instead of being a chef, he knew that Hero would appreciate something that hit closer to home, in a good way.</p><p>Once Sunny got everything, he proceeded to check out the gifts and meet back up with Hero and Kel. On the way out, however, he saw a sight that made his skin pale for a minute.</p><p>He saw Elliot with his gang from a far enough distance at the men’s clothing aisle.</p><p>He couldn’t tell if Elliot or his lackeys saw him, because he booked it out the door, meeting up with Kel and Hero, who all noticed how pale he looked.</p><p>“Woah there, Sunny! You alright?” Hero asked, noticing the lighter tone on his skin and the face as if he’d seen a ghost.</p><p>Sunny tried to muster up the words, <em>anything</em> to explain himself. “L-Let’s get back home…”</p><p>The two brothers looked at each other, worried, then nodded. “S-Sure, Sunny.”</p><p>Once they all made it back home, Sunny dropped his gifts down near the couch and sat down, with Hero and Kel sitting right next to him. He was hyperventilating, no doubt due to the shock and horror of seeing someone who, last time they saw each other, shot an airsoft gun clean at his pelvis. It felt like his mind was screaming, his ears ringing as if a flashbang grenade went off clean in his direction, his eyes beginning to well up. Hero must’ve muttered something; he couldn’t hear it amidst the cacophony.</p><p>Hero came back with a paper bag, which Sunny took in his hands rapidly. “Breathe, Sunny. Breathe.”</p><p>Doing just that, Sunny felt his nerves begin to loosen with every breathe in, and out. In and out. In and out. In and out. The ringing in his mind and ears stopped, and it was possible to hear everything again.</p><p>Hero and Kel both took sighs of relief, then Hero took center stage. “What happened in there?”</p><p>Sunny knew he could hold in the bully story no longer. He needed to say it to someone. Anyone. “Remember when I told you this morning that there were kids who liked to pick on me…?” Hero nodded.</p><p>“Well, the main guy, Elliot… I saw him in the mall. He’s the one who outright <em>adores</em> picking on me for what happened to Mari.” Sunny breathed out, knowing he’d have to show it now. He lifted his shirt, revealing the gunshot wound. Both of them winced in shock. “He shot me the day before I came up here with a BB gun. Told me how I was a monster, a killer, and the like. Said that I wasn’t deserving of the air to breathe in this ‘God-given American land’ or some shit like a goddamn redneck.” Sunny sighed defeatedly, now having exposed the one thing he never wanted the gang to see, especially with the holidays being so close.</p><p>In the distance, they heard loud music blaring from a red truck. Elliot’s truck. It sped by the neighborhood, not even knowing just who exactly they sped past.</p><p>“Sounds like a real piece of shit, huh?” Hero grimaced, which surprised Sunny that Hero, usually the nicest guy on the block who carried around this air of professional behavior… swore. Not that they lived in a religious household or anything, but it was definitely unusual for Hero to swear. Even Kel looked surprised. Nonetheless, Sunny nodded.</p><p>“Who are <em>you</em> and what did you do to Hero?” Kel whispered to himself, unaware that he was intruding on the moment.</p><p>“Well, if he gives you any grief, you know where to find us.” Hero smiled his usual smile, managing to lighten up Sunny’s spirits a little.</p><p>An idea formed in his head.</p><p>“Hero…”</p><p>“Yeah, Sunny?”</p><p>“Got any advice on girls?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Family</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny finally speaks what's been on his mind, and in a choice decision, makes his first step.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Apologies for the slight time in between chapters, things have been rather hectic in my personal life in terms of family and school management that won't entirely be repeated here. Due to the stress I had to deal with, this chapter in particular might come across as a little short compared to everything beforehand, and as such, I apologize again. Hopefully you all enjoy it all the same! Let me know if you have any feedback! ^^</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kel grinned from ear to ear at Sunny’s question for Hero, then started laughing enthusiastically. “Well, well, well, Sunny’s in love! Who’s the lucky girl?”</p><p>Sunny felt his face redden faster than a budding rose. And it was arguably even more red than the last few times it happened.</p><p>Hero smiled a bit kindlier, trying to ease the conversation a little more easily. “Now, now, Kel. Let’s take things a little more slowly than tha-“</p><p>“It’s Aubrey.”</p><p>The room was in complete silence. Kel looked intrigued but dumbfounded, while Hero looked like he just didn’t hear the response. “Say that again? Didn’t quite hear you there, Sunny.”</p><p>“I’m in love with Aubrey.”</p><p>Now the both of them were surprised at the revelation. But soon enough, they both smiled genuinely. “Y’know what… I can actually see it!” Kel giggled wholeheartedly.</p><p>“Yeah, I’ve always kinda figured you two had a thing for each other!” Hero joined in.</p><p>If Sunny’s face was any redder, he’d be a tomato.</p><p>Kel snickered, then leaned in close to Sunny, putting an arm around his shoulder. “Well, Sunny, if you need wingmen, me and Hero are connoisseurs of romance!”</p><p>Sunny chuckled back. Hero was well-acquainted with the topic, but Kel… oh boy.</p><p>Kel and Hero, being the spontaneous brothers they were, stood up from the couch as Sunny sat and watched them put on a show.</p><p>“First things first are the ground rules! What is it you like about Aubrey?” Kel asked, holding a magazine akin to a game show microphone. Sunny couldn’t help but smirk a little.</p><p>“W-Well, I like the way her hair looks perfect even in the wind…?” Sunny nervously chuckled, replaying the words in his head. “Wait, that didn’t sound right…”</p><p>Kel, milking the teasing for all its worth in a strategy to boost his friend’s confidence, continued his game show ruse. “Yes, very juicy. Very juicy stuff indeed! Now, we have an audience member with the most widely popular response to your predicament! Can we bring him onto the stage please?”</p><p>Sunny’s grin started to widen into a bit of laughter at his best friends’ clowning. At this point, he was just along for whatever ride they were planning.</p><p>Hero walked up to his younger brother, taking in the scenario in stride. Kel raised the faux-microphone to his height. “Well, Mr. Kel, I’d like to say to you, Sunny, is that when considering asking out a girl you like, is that you got to be genuine with her and how you feel about her. Once you do that, it’s smooth sailing from there!”</p><p>Though the execution was for humorous purposes, Sunny caught on to what Hero was saying. It was true, Sunny truly had fallen for Aubrey. Even with four years of emotional suppression, there was something deep down that still felt at ease around her. Once he finally let the truth out, after a little while, things between them definitely started to heal. It felt like the bridge signifying their friendship truly had been rebuilt after all that. He remembered the genuine smile she had when they stayed at Basil’s the night before Sunny was due to move. He remembered Aubrey’s words to him when they went to go see the old treehouse. He wanted to hug her tightly then, but he couldn’t find the courage to do so, even when she was on her knees apologizing for her behavior towards everyone.</p><p>Sunny remembered Basil. Maybe Basil would have some advice for him on the matter.</p><p>Kel’s voice broke the echoing silence of his thoughts. “Y’know what’d be a great smooth-talker for the ladies? Some nice music and dancing ought to do the trick!” He took Sunny’s hand and rose him up. “C’mon, Sunny, know any good dances?”</p><p>“K-Kel, you know I’m not a very good dancer…!” Sunny stuttered in nervous protest, while he looked at Hero for help, who couldn’t help but muster an amused chuckle. It was just rife with “I’d love to help you, but this is just too good”.</p><p>“Not with that attitude!” Kel smirked, leading Sunny along as the two of them danced. It was the most awkward experience Sunny had felt, but if he didn’t play along, how else was he gonna learn?</p><p>Kel lead Sunny through the basics, like pirouettes and several types of dances that would be considered romantic. Surprisingly enough, despite his lack of confidence, Sunny proved himself to be exemplary at it, really getting the hang of the proper leg movements and timing the moves with music. Hero went from amused teasing to genuine amazement, to the point where he was clapping along as Sunny and Kel practice danced. “There you go, Sunny! You got it!”</p><p>For the grand finale, Sunny led Kel into one more pirouette, Kel being twirled right underneath Sunny’s hand as he leaned back, Sunny’s arm catching him by the waist as they stared at each other. Not romantically, but out of congratulation towards each other. “See? You’re great at this! You’ll woo Aubrey in no time!”</p><p>The following hours of the day saw Sunny venturing to Basil’s place. Hero and Kel had to get some things from Fix-It, so Sunny figured he’d spend some time with Basil. Maybe even ask him for some hot hints on how to confess his feelings for Aubrey.</p><p>Basil’s house was just as well-kept as he remembered it. Pale beige structuring with a light olive-green roof, and the lawn and driveway beset with flowers that Basil tended to. Strangely, however, he saw Polly’s car parked on the driveway. Was Basil’s parents even <em>home?</em></p><p>Sunny knocked on the door, hoping to see something in the form of Basil’s parents opening the door for him, greeting him, or even just saying that Basil’s spending time with them at the moment so he’d check back later. Instead, Polly opened the door. Sunny felt his stomach sink at the implications.</p><p>“Hi, Polly! Is Basil home?” Sunny asked, hoping Basil was alright, at least.</p><p>“Hi, Sunny!” Polly smiled in greeting, but with a tone that suggested something wasn’t quite right. “Yeah, Basil’s home right now, but…”</p><p>“…But?”</p><p>“He’s in his bedroom right now, if you want to check in on him.” Polly softly replied, beckoning Sunny inside, probably from the cold weather.</p><p>Sunny stepped inside as Polly closed the door behind them. “Is Basil okay? What’s wrong?”</p><p>Polly sighed remorsefully. “His parents aren’t coming home for Christmas.”</p><p>The hunch Sunny had was right, but it didn’t mean it still didn’t feel angering to hear. “Oh no…”</p><p>“They told me it was another business trip, to the Bahamas of all places, that work called for them when they least expected it. I asked them if they could at least get their boss to schedule their meeting at a different time, but before I could even get them to budge, they said they had to hang up, in the most… shrug-worthy voice. I wanted to shout at them, that they’ve been doing this ever since Basil was just a toddler, but they hung up by the time I could form the words.” Polly moaned distraughtly, feeling as if she was once again unable to help Basil in a tight spot.</p><p>Sunny stepped towards the hallway entrance, leading towards Basil’s room. “I’ll talk to him.” He replied, a little more determined than previously expected.</p><p>He could still hear echoes of their encounter the night he fought with him. He didn’t want to do it, he felt like he was a puppet being pulled on a string by a puppeteer to strike at Basil, and him the same. It was as if an ulterior being was forcing them to fight each other, stressed out to hell and back when Sunny was just wanting to save him.</p><p>“H-HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!? That's mean, Sunny. Ah... There's something all around us now. Can you see it, Sunny? There's no way out of this, is there?”</p><p>Sunny heard those heartbreaking words resonate in his mind. He wanted to run. He wanted to turn around, but he knew that he had to be there for him.</p><p>Sunny gently opened the door.</p><p>Inside Basil’s room were the lights of the grey sky shining into the light green room. Basil’s bed was made, but it looked like had been previously crying on it. And in the corner of the room was Basil himself, hunched in the corner of his room as he kept sobbing, not even noticing Sunny’s presence, even as the door opened. “H-Hey, Basil, you okay?” Sunny asked, already knowing the answer, but just wanting to hear his best friend’s voice.</p><p>Basil looked up, as if he hadn’t heard someone’s voice in years. His eyes looked pink from crying, and he looked slightly pale. “O-Oh… Sunny… I didn’t expect to see you here, heh…”</p><p>Sunny sat down right next to Basil, his hands wrapped around his knees as he let Basil lie his head on his shoulder, crying on it as he knew there was no hiding his emotional distress any longer. “I heard about your parents. I never thought they’d be so awful, I’m so sorry.”</p><p>“I-It’s not… just that…” Basil cried, wrapping his arms lovingly and longingly around his best friend as he kept letting the tears out. “It’s the fact that… they didn’t show up for my grandmother’s funeral… Or when I was in the hospital… I was hoping they’d c-come back for Christmas to make up for it, but…” He just couldn’t finish the sentence. “O-Oh, Sunny, I d-don’t know what to do… I don’t know why all t-this pain keeps happening to me…”</p><p>Sunny felt even worse when he heard they didn’t even show up for either health crisis. Maybe they would’ve been forgiven for just having bad luck in terms of timing, but then he finds out that they weren’t even there for their kid when he needed them?</p><p>Sunny wrapped his left arm around Basil. “I’m here, bud… I’m here… I’m not going anywhere this time…”</p><p>The two of there sat for quite some time, letting each other relax in each other’s presence as the sun began to fade. Sunny knew he had to go back to Kel’s place, but he was not going to let Basil suffer like this, being all alone on Christmas with only Polly for company all the time. She probably had family of her own, too, to be there for during the season.</p><p>But then Sunny thought, <em>maybe we could be the family Basil needs for the holidays</em>.</p><p>Sunny rose and packed up some stuff for Basil in his room, with Basil looking on in strained confusion. “S-Sunny… What are you d-doing?”</p><p>“I’m not letting you be all by yourself this Christmas. I’ll let Kel know I’m bringing you with me.” Sunny said, packing the last of Basil’s belongings that he’d probably need.</p><p>Basil wanted to say something, not wanting his friend to worry about him being by himself. “S-Sunny…”</p><p>“I made the mistake of not being there for you when you needed me. I won’t let that happen again.” Sunny reaffirmed, putting his hand gently on Basil’s shoulder.</p><p>Basil felt his eyes watering yet again, and he embraced his friend tightly, crying yet again into his shoulder. Sunny hugged back, patting Basil on the back, completely oblivious to Polly watching the whole thing from the door to his room.</p><p>After talking it over with Polly, the two of them walked through the soft freeze of the coming night to Kel’s house, not really speaking much of a word but were smiling at each other warmly, platonically holding hands as reassurance to Basil that he would never have to suffer the way they did again after so long.</p><p>They reached Kel’s house, and Sunny explained everything with Basil’s parents, and with due time, they placed Basil’s blankets and pillows on the couch, with Basil now getting full ownership of it due to Kel now sleeping in his own bed.</p><p>As dusk turned to nighttime, Sunny lied down on his air mattress, looking at Kel, Hero, and Basil lounging about in their bedroom, with Basil’s smile being spread across his face in true happiness.</p><p>Sunny could feel it too. Somehow, everything was going to be okay.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Endurance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny faces one of his greatest battles, but what awaits him will leave him more defenseless than before.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sunny awoke in a cave. It was dark, decrepit, and cold. Very, very cold. A cavity amongst the earth he walked on.</p><p>Sunny tried to move his body, but he was burdened by rubble. His body felt heavy, as if he had taken substantial damage from something he couldn’t quite comprehend just yet. He tried again, only to hear noises of metal surrounding his body. He was wearing armor. The same one from his artwork. It shone slightly of silver and looked as if it could never break off, no matter what the owner suffered through. And he wore a crimson cloak hooded amongst his head. Among its fleece was the same symbol from the drawing, a white, leafless tree whose branches parted upwards with the roots facing downwards in the formation of a shield.</p><p>As he rose from the granite, he found a sword lying next to where he was nearly buried. The blade was forged from pure steel, as if it were almost-flawless. The hilt bore the same color as Aubrey’s bat, and the grip styled itself after Aubrey’s favorite color: pink. As if it materialized from thin air, Sunny found a scabbard laced around his back, fitting the sword’s length to a tee.</p><p>Sunny picked up the sword, and tucked it inside the scabbard. He then ventured further into the depths of the cave, finding nothing but the expanse of darkness He continued to trek forward, occasionally hearing voices in the darkness as he found himself travelling deeper into its fissures.</p><p>“<em>I'm... I'm so sorry. Will you forgive me? My best friend...</em>”</p><p>Sunny felt unnerved, but he traversed further. Finding a slight glimpse of light up ahead, he kept going further. With every step, the small glimpse grew bigger, almost as if something broke through it.</p><p>“<em>No matter how far you push your feelings down... they'll always come back somehow. And what you do with those feelings... That will be your truth.</em>”</p><p>The cave was whispering to him, as if it knew everything about him. He kept walking forward, hoping the voices would stop.</p><p>“<em>I guess you're the same old Sunny after all!</em>”</p><p>“<em>You know I only have eyes for you, Mari.</em>”</p><p>The voices kept getting relentless with every step he took, as if he were starting to feel tethered to the ground. He had to get out of this cave.</p><p>“<em>You know... Before we met, I had a lot of trouble fitting in... Even after we all became friends... I always assumed you were going to leave me eventually.</em>”</p><p>“<em>You must miss Mari a lot. It's been hard for me, too. I still think about her every day.</em>”</p><p>“<em>But there's still one big thing you're afraid of, isn't there? Something... a little bit harder to overcome.</em>”</p><p>“<em>Sunny... Are you there? I'm... I'm cold...</em>”</p><p>“<em>Goodbye... little brother.</em>”</p><p>Sunny covered his ears, as if they were whispering so callously into his ears. He felt the same presence he felt in the church in Black Space.</p><p>Something was here, but where?</p><p>“<strong><em>You should just die.</em></strong>”</p><p>A loud, screeching roar plagued the air above as Sunny finally made it out of the cave, through what looked like a dragon-shaped crevice. He slumped to his knees, wishing to cry once more but not finding the strength to do it this time around. He huffed stressfully, looking down at his knees as they folded on the ground. If he had wanted to, he would just hurl himself off the cliff right then and there. To end it all. To end the suffering.</p><p>No, that’s what Omori wanted.</p><p>He rose and marched along the rocky pathway, taking no heed of the abyss below him.</p><p>Near the end of the path, he saw a knight bloodied and beaten, a massive claw slashed across her chest. Miraculously, she was still breathing, if just barely. She noticed Sunny approaching, trying to tend to her wounds, but the knight pressed her hand to Sunny’s breastplate.</p><p>“My student… Take no effort upon me… My time is done here…” The knight heaved, the wound continuing to leak blood rapidly. She was dying, and fast.</p><p>“N-No… I can’t let you lay here and die…!” Sunny stuttered, tears starting to wrap around his cheeks, as if he knew this person.</p><p>She once again stopped Sunny in his tracks, removing her helm to reveal Mari’s face. It was paler than ever, almost like when she died, as she found breathing to be rather difficult to do. “You mustn’t waste your time with my failings. The kingdom needs you now more than me…” She coughed hoarsely, as if she could die at any minute. She weakly handed Sunny her helm, which was the exact same as the one in his drawing. It seems as though Omori was using his own imagination against him. “Take my helm… It will be your shield from the dark. When you wear it, you will feel invincible. A demon to your foes, and a bastion to yourself and others. Seek strength. The rest will follow.”</p><p>Sunny took the helm, and put it on after unfurling his hood. True to her word, he felt secure and calmer after he put it on, like a superhero putting on their mask. That didn’t stop the tears, however.</p><p>Knight Mari smiled weakly, as if the last essences of her life were fleeting from her at that second. “Our time together was short, but sweet...” The beast’s roar lashed against the sky again. “I would hate to harm you after death. So, go now... and thank you.”</p><p>With those words, Mari slumped into death, her head slanting lifelessly against the mountain wall. Sunny felt the need to scream in grief-stricken agony, as if he were once again watching Mari die without being able to do anything to stop it. It may have been a fake Mari based in a dream, but it didn’t matter to Sunny. He cradled his sister one last time, hugging her lifeless body, as if he hoped to feel her arms wrap around him once more, but no such thing happened. Sunny let go of her, a feeling of sorrowful rage bellowing inside of him as he stared at the castle up ahead, taking his sister’s shield.</p><p>Sunny rose, and ran through the long gravel bridge, sword tightly gripped in his hand, and shield in the other.</p><p>He reached the kingdom gates, looking in front of him to see most of the city being damaged and burnt to its last breath. He marched towards the castle.</p><p>He reached the entrance, seeing the beast for what it was. Something. Something in the castle.</p><p>Something had its signature singular eye amongst its face, its snout, maw, and body charcoal-black to the bone. Black blood dripped from its jaws, as its wings flapped threateningly. It was like it didn’t belong in the world, almost… wrong. Its growling sounded like Mari’s laugh, and its talons and claws even had waves of her hair creaking into the nails, as if overgrown into its scales and body. It roared again at Sunny, a mix of a girl’s scream and the screech of a demonic behemoth.</p><p>Near him were three others, as a battalion of knights, mages, archers, and healers kept continuously, and vainly trying to slay Something, to no avail. The first one he saw was Kel, trying to aim an arrow into Something’s eye while trying to dodge its black fire, his attire persisting of grey hunter’s garb and a mask lidding his mouth. The second combatant he saw was Basil, in robes fitting for a warlock, with light green hues matching the beige of the gloves, as he kept trying to detain the beast in magical vines. Third of which he saw was Hero, in priest’s garments and a hood trying to heal the wounds of his fallen compatriots. Finally, he saw Aubrey in char-bronze, heavy armor carrying a mighty great axe and a hulking shield, smashing hefty blows onto Something to not much luck.</p><p>Something screeched again upon seeing Sunny in his armor, and started making a b-line towards him at breakneck speeds, the haunting giggles of Mari repeating themselves with every step the monster took closer to him. But this time, it was different.</p><p>Sunny was no longer AFRAID.</p><p>With one vicious bash of his shield, Sunny smacked Something clean into its snout and knocked the beast clean into six torched houses. The others were stunned at how effortlessly he made it look. Perhaps the nightmare could be vanquished after all?</p><p>Sunny marched boomingly towards Something, his sword brandished in the direction of it as the dragon rose from its stunned state. A growl emanated from its mouth, and out came the voice of Omori.</p><p>“<strong>You think she’d love you back? After every ounce of suffering you caused her for four years?</strong>” Omori spoke through Something, his voice sounding so out-of-place as he probed deep into Sunny’s feelings for Aubrey. “<strong>All you’ll do is doom her to a life of torment with the one who killed what’s closest to her. She will resent you for it. She will be sickened by you. It’s like I said, Sunny, your feelings for her are not real.</strong>”</p><p>Sunny retaliated with one clean swipe of the sword along Something’s eye. But the beast moved out of the way, and swung at Sunny with its tail, knocking him clean into the pillars of the castle, knocking each of them down upon him.</p><p>Aubrey saw the beast fling Sunny towards the pillars of the castle, and looked to Hero, a newfound determination on the knight’s face. “Hero, tend to his wounds. Basil, can you hold the beast?”</p><p>Hero ran towards Sunny, a healing tome at the ready. Basil looked to Aubrey, worriedly. “General, I’m trying every spell I know. It’s not stopping the beast!”</p><p>“I don’t need you to stop it, I need you to stall it. Give us just enough time to surround it so the knight can lay the killing blow.” Aubrey grasped Basil’s shoulder. “I know you can do this.”</p><p>Basil nodded sheepishly. “I-I’ll do my best.”</p><p>She turned to Kel. “Kel, on my signal, you will order your men to stun the dragon with your arrows. Do not try to kill the beast. Like a moth to a flame, you will keep the beast busy while Basil tries to restrain it. Do you understand?”</p><p>In an uncharacteristic move on Kel’s part, dream or not, he nodded affirmatively. “Yes, General.” He turned to his fellow archers. “Archers, when the General’s signal is made, I want you to aim your explosive arrows near the beast, not <em>at</em> it, am I clear?”</p><p>The archers nodded, to which Kel smirked through his mask. “You will go down as the best men I’ve ever fought alongside.”</p><p>“The men hear you loud and clear, General.” Kel responded, to which Aubrey clutched her axe in determination. She smirked. “You have my axe.”</p><p>“And you have my bow.” Kel responded in kind.</p><p>“And my magic.” Basil smiled heroically.</p><p>Aubrey looked to Kel, one last time before they made their move. “Never thought I’d die fighting side by side with an assassin.”</p><p>Kel smirked back. “What about with a friend?”</p><p>Aubrey chuckled. “’Aye, I could do that.”</p><p>In the interim, Hero attended to Sunny’s wounds, muttering a spell under his breath as Sunny let him do his work. “Easy now, fair knight. This will only take but a moment.”</p><p>Sunny nodded, bracing himself mentally for what he had to do. “Is it wrong to say I’m scared of fighting the monster?”</p><p>Hero chuckled. “Nay, my friend. I’m scared too. We all are.”</p><p>Sunny smiled through the helm, not as if any of them could see it. “Do you think I’d be able to do it? To rid myself of something once and for all?”</p><p>“There’s more than one battle in a war, my friend. But this would be a remarkable first step.” Hero replied, not knowing how prophetic his words ended up being to Sunny. Once Sunny recovered, Hero raised a hand to Sunny, lifting him up. “You will go down in history as one of the bravest the world has ever known.”</p><p>“And if I fail?” Sunny asked.</p><p>“Then you will be known beyond the stars for your gallantry. Now go forth.” Hero patted Sunny’s back in reassurance, as Sunny ran towards the trio that fought with Something.</p><p>Sunny raced back into the fray, right through the smoke that bellowed from Something’s fire breath. He saw Basil submerging the beast in thorned vines, staring down the monster that haunted him in the real world. Aubrey stood on top of it, chopping the talons with her axe while Kel and his archers continued raining the beast down with explosive arrows.</p><p>Sunny ran valiantly towards Something, who once again spoke in Omori’s voice. “<strong>You think your friends love you? They don’t. They only know that you killed her and nothing more. You can’t hide from what you’ve done to them all.</strong>”</p><p>Sunny stared down Something in its one eye. “Last I checked, I was done hiding. I’m not running anymore.”</p><p>“<strong>We could undo all this if you’d just surrender to me, Sunny. We would see her again, and all your troubles would disappear.</strong>”</p><p>“By taking me with you? Not a chance in hell.” Sunny spat back. He raised the sword, and jammed it clean into Something’s eye, as a terrifying wail emanated from Something, blackened blood showering the scenery, before all of its movement stopped cold. Something began to fade away. For good, Sunny felt. It was just Omori now.</p><p>The gang all entered the castle, peering over the loss of life on the inside. Undamaged, but carrying the corpse of royalty, was a gilded throne. Sunny felt drawn to it, as he walked forward, the corpse fading away into nothingness as Sunny sat upon the chair. He took off his helm, revealing his face to his allies, who all knelt before him.</p><p>Sunny closed his eyes, and exuded a deep breath. Once his eyes opened, he was face to face with Omori, who stared him down with an aura of anger and ferocity.</p><p>“<strong>You can never escape me.</strong>”</p><p>Before Sunny could fight back, Omori stabbed Sunny clean in the neck.</p><p>Sunny woke up on his mattress, the clock reading 5:30 A.M. as he lie there, slightly shivering. He rose from the bed quietly, checking to see if he woke anyone up, which he didn’t this time.</p><p>Sunny quietly went downstairs, grabbed his coat and scarf, and wrote down a note on a card.</p><p>“To anyone who wakes up first, I’m okay. Just had another bad dream and wanted to take a walk for just a second to clear my head. – Sunny”</p><p>And with that, he went outside and took a walk amongst the thirty-one-degree weather. He walked his way over to the church, heading immediately to the cemetery.</p><p>Once Sunny came in, he made himself familiar with the locale. Sunny had been to this place a few times since Kel got him to come outside all those months back, and while living in Bayview kept him from doing so, he always wanted to make time to visit it every so often.</p><p>He reached a familiar gravestone, and knelt near it.</p><p>“OUR DEAREST MARI - THE SUN SHINED BRIGHTER WHEN SHE WAS HERE.”</p><p>Sunny took a deep breath, and spoke to the gravestone, hoping Mari could maybe hear him. “H-Hey, Mari… I just wanted to let you know that I made it to Faraway. Things have been going well, and I’m enjoying my time with my friends. It really does feel nice knowing that things can seemingly feel like they went back to normal between us… even if I know that isn’t completely the case.”</p><p>He knelt in the snow, his thoughts beginning to feel heavy as the snow pressed against his legs. But he didn’t care.</p><p>“I’m doing my best to forgive myself, as you wanted… But the truth is… I struggle almost every day to do it. I’m trying to keep my promise to you, but I feel awful making progress… I don’t know how everyone forgave me, even with the knowledge that I was the one who killed you. I still feel tired of the fight, it feels like I’m going nowhere very quickly. I-I just…” His breathing started to fail him, as tears began to slither out of his eyes. “I know I’m repeating myself, but… I-I miss you, so much… And I honestly don’t know what to do without you… Every day you’re not here is another day I feel like I should be with you. And I hate myself so much more for being the reason you’re gone, no matter how hard I try to forgive myself. If I could go back in time and stop myself from shoving you, I would. If I could play that violin perfectly for you back then, I would in a heartbeat. If I could lie in your arms one more time at night to feel like I’m gonna be okay, I would. B-But… I can’t… And I am so sorry…”</p><p>Sunny couldn’t hold it in anymore, as he let them all come out onto the freezing snow, right where Mari was buried. But with every tear he let go came a wave of healing, as if Mari’s spirit were hugging him tightly, like she was crying too.</p><p>After a couple minutes of letting it all out, Sunny rose from her grave, and walked away. But just before he left, he saw a gravestone that he never figured he would see. One that raised so many questions.</p><p>“OUR LITTLE ANGEL – ELSIE HEMLOCK. MAY YOU FIND LOVE IN THE ARMS OF GOD.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Constellations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny gets his answers to questions that permeated within him from his discovery, while also forming entirely new ones.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Sunny came back to Kel’s place, he was lucky to find that nobody was awake yet, so he discarded the note he left and went back up to their room. As he laid on the mattress, he found himself unable to go back to sleep, still pondering over what he saw at the cemetery.</p><p>Who was Elsie? Obviously, he knew he was related to Elliot in some manner, but was she his sister? His mother?</p><p>The morning light shone in the bedroom as Sunny was the first one up. Once Sunny got himself all cleaned up, he took to the computer in the house office, looking up all he could on Elsie Hemlock. And as luck would have it, there was an obituary posted on the search results.</p><p>He found the most relevant site at the top: “Elsie Hemlock Obituary (1989 – 2003)” and clicked on it, reading as follows:</p><p>“April 10<sup>th</sup>, 2003 – It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Elsie Anastasia Hemlock (14), who tragically passed away tonight at 9:13 P.M. after a long battle with leukemia. She is survived by her parents Christine Eva Hemlock (41) and Marc Adolph Hemlock (44), her brother Elliot Franz Hemlock (15), among nine cousins, eight aunts and uncles, and two grandfathers.</p><p>Born on February 14<sup>th</sup>, 1989, Elsie was a loving and kindred spirit with a heart of gold, with two loving parents who cared for her and supported her through every trial and tribulation that came with her childhood diagnosis with leukemia. In spite of the circumstances this presented to her, she still lived her life to the fullest, making several friends at Faraway Middle and was well on her way to graduate to high school with the aid of her father this year alongside her brother. She was an avid singer, and was well-known for her candid performances at her family’s church and her middle school theater.</p><p>A mass will be held on April 13th at 11:30 A.M. at Faraway Church near Faraway Park. Friends and family are invited to celebrate Elsie’s life after the mass at 840 Lovington Road, where the Hemlock family are housed at this time.</p><p>Donations of money will be to help Marc’s efforts to obtain a position as a vice principal at Faraway High. To send flowers to Marc’s family, please visit our floral store.”</p><p>Elsie passed away two years before Sunny turned sixteen. Two years after Mari died. Maybe this was just a coincidence? No, it couldn’t be. It’s too eerily close to each other. This wasn’t adding up. Granted, this was still when Sunny was a shut-in, but he’s pretty sure he would’ve heard <em>something</em> about it.</p><p>He kept looking through every obituary he could on Elsie, but with every one he looked through, all of them listed leukemia as the cause of death. Maybe the lack of exposure on the topic was probably just the family’s means of coping through it, but if that was the case, then why did he not hear any rumors dogging Elliot in Bayview High? Or the vice principal? Why wouldn’t he have brought it up to Sunny given how they apparently went through similar circumstances? Mr. Hemlock <em>knew</em> about what happened to Mari and the rumors surrounding it, even if he didn’t know it was true, so why didn’t he speak of it just a tiny bit? Sure, he was a covert asshole, but the least the man could’ve done was mentioned it. This wasn’t making any sense. Why would he need money to secure a position as a vice principal? Last Sunny checked, that wasn’t something that required money to get themselves into, just experience with children and a decent enough resume, unless there was something Sunny was missing.</p><p>He wrote down the address to the house, mentally expecting it to find it either empty or under new residence. But for now, he was going to put all of that on hold. Not when it was this convoluted and complicated.</p><p>Sunny logged off the computer, and tucked the note into his pocket. He walked out of the office to see Hero, Kel, and Basil enjoying breakfast in the kitchen. Letting himself be seated amongst his friends, they all smile warmly at him. Hero was the first to speak.</p><p>“Morning, Sunny! You’re all nice and ready to go already!” Hero grinned sweetly from the other end of the countertop, a pan of bacon in one hand.</p><p>“Yeah, I don’t usually do that a whole lot, thought I’d change that.” Sunny said, a proud little smile peeking in.</p><p>“That’s great to hear, bud. You’re doing great.” Hero nodded, going back to tending to his cooking. “Bacon sound alright with you?”</p><p>Sunny nodded, watching as Kel and Basil already dug into their food, Kel especially. “Mmmm, so, Basil, did you hear about Sunny’s crush yet?” Kel spoke after what was probably his second round of bacon.</p><p>Sunny felt his face flush hard as if the entire earth stood still. <em>Dammit, Kel</em><em>…</em>, he thought to himself.</p><p>Basil’s eyes practically gleamed as he turned to Sunny. “Ooooh, who is it~? Whoever it is must be a lucky girl~” He replied in a sing-song voice, leaning in to the conversation with utmost admiration.</p><p>Kel chuckled, gently nudging Sunny on the arm. “Go on, lover boy, tell him!”</p><p>Sunny mumbled meekly, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. “I’m… in love with… Aubrey.”</p><p>Basil gasped in delight. “Awwwwwww! That’s so adorable! I am in full support!”</p><p>Kel kept running his mouth on about it. “Yeah, we all are! I even showed him how to dance just yesterday, he was a natural-“</p><p>Sunny responded in kind by punching Kel in the arm, his face showcasing every aspect of his embarrassment.</p><p>“Ow!” Kel chuckled painfully. “Yep, I can definitely tell you love her… You even have her mean right hook.”</p><p>Hero chuckled. “Kel, I think that’s Sunny’s way of saying ‘don’t rub it in’. As well as not trying to be a tease at his most vulnerable.”</p><p>Basil giggled cutely. “Well, I, for one, think Sunny would make a beautiful dancer! You’ll get her in no time~”</p><p>Sunny flushed again. He may have had his eyes more on Aubrey, but that didn’t mean Basil didn’t have his moments too. Even he had to admit Basil’s giggle was adorable.</p><p>Once everyone was done, they all once again went down to Othermart for another round of gift shopping. Sunny was a little wary of going this time around after what happened the last time, but for the gang’s sake, he went with them, keeping his hood up just to be safe in case Elliot was also there.</p><p>Miraculously, that didn’t seem to be the case this time around, as he didn’t see Elliot’s truck parked anywhere in the parking lot. As such, when the gang split up again, Sunny kept close to Basil for a bit.</p><p>“I didn’t get to say this at Kel’s, but I’m so happy for you having a crush on Aubrey. I’m positive it’ll do her a lot of good having someone as sweet and as supportive as you, Sunny.” Basil gleamed as they looked through the clothes section, most likely getting Kel a sports jersey he had his eye on.</p><p>“Heh, thanks, Basil. I’ll admit, though, I still kinda feel bad not reciprocating your crush on me. I hope this hasn’t affected you.” Sunny admitted, a little bit distressed about that matter now that Basil knows.</p><p>“Hm? Oh, don’t worry about any of that, Sunny! You’re not hurting me one iota for liking someone else! I’m sure I’ll find someone someday!” Basil said affirmingly, which did help ease Sunny’s worries to a degree. It was honestly rather nice seeing Basil a little cheerier these days. He kissed Sunny sweetly on the nose. “Trust me when I say that you two are going to be such a wonderful couple. You’ll do amazing, Sunny, because that’s just who you are!”</p><p>Sunny flushed again, obviously thankful for Basil’s affectionate confidence-building. “Heh… I’m not that great, Basil.”</p><p>“Aren’t we all, Sunny? It’s like what I told you the day you left for Bayview. I’ve come to realize now that perfection isn’t a human quality one can get, and in my denial, I let that be my motto for you, to my own hubris. But that doesn’t matter, you’re special in your own way. And that’s close enough to perfect for me.” Basil smiled his magic smile, the smile that would melt even the coldest or hardest of hearts. Months before, it carried an air of despondence, a cry for help that he was too afraid to say himself. Now, it showed true growth. Showing how, despite everything the two of them may have done in the past, they were turning over new leaves. They were free from their torment. Or at least, that’s what Basil believed.</p><p>Nonetheless, the two hugged compassionately right then and there. Not as lovers, but as friends.</p><p>Sunny broke the hug after a few minutes, remembering what he wanted to ask Basil. “Hey, Basil, what do you think would be sage advice for confessing my feelings for Aubrey?”</p><p>Basil’s smile gleamed a little wider. “As corny as this is gonna sound…” He pointed to Sunny’s heart. “That’s where you’ll find the words.”</p><p>Sunny wanted to hug him again for how cheesy and sugary that advice was. It was peak Basil, fluffy on the exterior, but pure-hearted on the interior. And so he did.</p><p>“Everything is going to be okay.” Basil whispered to him. Just like his smile, it no longer was burdened by feelings of grief and guilt. Now, those words sounded true. Everything was most likely, well and truly, going to be okay.</p><p>It didn’t take long for the group to reconvene after they had bought everything they needed, and as soon as they returned home, they spent time trying to wrap their gifts, hiding it under the Christmas tree.</p><p>Sunny never really got the chance to admire it before, but now that he did, he took notice of how beautifully the lights highlighted its green color and the ornaments decorated alongside its branches. It really painted the picture of a perfect Christmas home, one that they would see in old cartoons they used to watch as kids around this time.</p><p>Hours passed by as Sunny decided to take a walk around the neighborhood, just to think through all the advice and kind words given him today. Was it all true, what they said? Were they just saying it to bolster Sunny’s wounded state? Was it pity for his still-perseverating grief about Mari?</p><p><em>No.</em> Sunny thought to himself. <em>No, they meant every word.</em></p><p>Sunny took a deep breath, one that hovered around him before fading away in the wintry air. He looked to his right, seeing an auburn-colored house. The numbers “840” hung among the bricks to the house. Sunny looked towards the street, the signpost reading “Lovington Road”.</p><p>840 Lovington Road.</p><p>He was here. The fabled house of Hemlock.</p><p>Sunny nervously walked forward, seeing the lights on inside the house from the December snowy fog. What if Elliot was in there? What if the vice principal was in there? Both of them? Elliot’s lackeys? A completely different family? Was he walking into a death trap? Sunny wanted to turn around, but if he did, he wouldn’t get his answers.</p><p>For a moment, he saw a demonic apparition of himself near the door, its craned, elongated neck and scribbled-out eyes peering in an aghast leer towards Sunny. But much as he felt his nerves about ready to take over, Sunny closed his eyes.</p><p>Sunny took a deep breath and remembered to FOCUS.</p><p>He walked towards the door, and knocked three times. All of them gentle and nervous, but also tactical. Surgical, even.</p><p>He was expecting to get his ass handed to him by Elliot on the other end of the door with the butt of the airsoft gun. How he didn’t learn his lesson the first time. The door began to open. Sunny nearly was about to run.</p><p>On the other end of the door was a ginger-haired, roughly 5’9” woman and no one else. “Oh, hi there, you’re Sunny, am I correct? I’ve heard of you from your mother back in the day.”</p><p>“H-Hi, ma’am, are you Christine Hemlock?” Sunny stuttered.</p><p>The woman looked down after hearing that last name, but nonetheless replied. “Well, haven’t heard that last name in years. But yes, I am.” She replied, somewhat in surprise but nevertheless retaining her seemingly-amiable presence.</p><p>“M-Mind if I come in for a second?” Sunny asked, the cold air not helping how nervous he felt.</p><p>“Sure thing, Sunny. I wasn’t expecting company, but you’re welcome to come inside for a bit.” She smiled sweetly, like a mother welcoming her children’s friends, and led Sunny inside, closing the door behind her. A male voice sounded from near the kitchen, one that definitely didn’t sound like Mr. Hemlock.</p><p>“Honey, who was that at the door?” He asked. Sunny felt like he knew this voice from somewhere.</p><p>“Oh, it’s Sunny, dear. He’s one of our neighbors.” She responded. Any worry about “stranger danger” and the like seemed to not really apply to Christine, so that was at least somewhat reassuring. The man peered his head out, and that was where the puzzle pieces came into place.</p><p>It was the preacher from the church. The church Aubrey used to go to before Kel decided to be Kel.</p><p>“Oh, I thought I recognized that name from somewhere!” He smiled gently. “Well, welcome, Sunny. So glad you could stop by!”</p><p>“O-Oh, hi, wasn’t expecting to see you here!” Sunny responded, any nervousness that previously existed vanished in that moment. He was safe.</p><p>“Well, we weren’t expecting company. But it’s always nice to have surprises every once in a while!” The preacher replied, seemingly tending to a toddler in a baby seat. It was most definitely a girl, as she had brown eyes, and had the preacher’s dirty blonde hair. A light blue bib was wrapped around her neck as she sucked on a baby bottle of milk. “Ah, that’s Suzie. She just turned two a few weeks ago. Say hi to Sunny, Suzie!”</p><p>Suzie waved her hand to the best of her ability, obviously wanting to go back to her drink. “Hiiiiii, Sunny…” She mumbled, obviously still trying to learn how to speak. Sunny was still enthused all the same, as he waved back.</p><p>He sat down near Christine, who took a sip of hot cocoa from a porcelain cup. Sunny took a moment to admire how well the house was put together, as the Christmas tree lit up the wall in a cozy, down-to-earth manner, as a few crosses were more calmly placed among some of the walls. Not a single picture even remotely hinted of a Hemlock. The preacher moved in next to her, cradling Suzie comfortably, who gawked at her dad in child-like awe.</p><p>“So, Sunny, what brings you in tonight?” Christine asked securely.</p><p>“W-Well, I was wondering if I recognized you from somewhere. I just recently heard about an Elsie Hemlock from when I visited the cemetery last night. The name rung a bell.” Sunny nervously answered.</p><p>Christine grimaced for a second, knowing now that he was brought to her from an unfortunate event. “Oh… yeah, that used to be my daughter. But I can assure you, that obituary isn’t remotely true at all.”</p><p>Sunny’s ears perked up. Now this was definitely something. He nervously peeked at the preacher, who wasn’t paying much of the conversation any mind, focused on playing peekaboo with Suzie. “It’s not?”</p><p>“Not one iota. Christine… died in a car accident. A friend was taking her home from one of her performance to spend the night at her place, but one look away from the road got them slammed by a pickup truck. Christine didn’t make it past the first night at the hospital. Marc, that… man didn’t even flinch upon the news. He always wanted a son, and even when he got his wish, he always had time to complain about his daughter ‘hanging out with those delinquents’ or anything of the sort relating to kids that didn’t go to the church or had different views from his own, or went against what that awful news station would say. One argument snowballed after the other, and when I found out about the obituary, I left him. I forced him out of the house and divorced him. I won the government proceedings, but he won ownership of Elliot, much as I fought for it. He just so happened to find a good lawyer. But…” She sighed contemplatively. “It’s a thing of the past now. I’m perfectly happy with what I have here.”</p><p>Sunny took in all the information like a freight train. Would there have been a timeline where Elliot actually turned out to be a genuinely caring person, just like what Elsie seemed to be? “I-I’m sorry for bringing back those memories. I’ve… had a few run-ins with Elliot myself.” He opened up his shirt, revealing the airsoft wound, which did look a little better than before, but was still present as ever.</p><p>Christine put her hand to her mouth in shock, before taking a deep sigh. “Tell you what, if you ever come across that boy again, and he does something like that to you again, ask him this: Is this what Elsie would’ve wanted?”</p><p>Sunny nodded in understanding, still trying to process everything all at once, but it did help answer his questions. He thanked her for the time, saying that he had to go back to his friends’ place, and Christine wished him well, and a happy holidays, but not before the preacher chimed in for a second. “Oh, Sunny… If you see Aubrey again, let her know that the church doesn’t hold anything against her for what happened. And she’s always welcome back at any time.”</p><p>Sunny smiled a little and nodded, thankful that the fight that happened there wasn’t taken too much to heart. That it was all just the congregation being unfair on her. “Merry Christmas.” Sunny replied, just heading out the door as he waved goodbye to Suzie, before closing it behind him.</p><p>As he walked away from the house, as the sun set in the distance, he found himself being near Faraway Park. Sunny couldn’t help but take a glance at how much the park attractions seemed coated in snow as he walked towards it, giggling a bit at how the kids were able to play in its snowy cocoon. As he turned his head and walked away, he nearly collided head-first with Aubrey.</p><p>The two gasped in shock, before taking a look at each other. Sunny’s face reddened profusely upon seeing Aubrey again, a meek smile spreading on his lips as they both nervously giggled. “Oh! H-Hi…”</p><p>“Hi, Sunny…! Uhh…” She replied in unison with him, as the two dorkily tried to move out of each other’s way, almost staring at one another. He couldn’t help but notice how Aubrey’s hair swayed in the snowy wind, how beautiful she looked with her embarrassed smile plastered similarly to Sunny’s, her rosy, pink cheeks blending in well with her pink hair, how downright kissable her lips were… And that was when he knew he had been staring a bit much. He blushed again.</p><p>“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were there… heh…!” He stammered, trying to recoup from being taken so lovingly by surprise.</p><p>“Neither did I! I’m sorry, I almost ran right into you…!” She giggled back, an atypically quiet tone in her voice. Was she flustered just like him?</p><p>The two kept chuckling mawkishly at each other, the awkwardness of the situation not being lost on them. “I was just on my way back to Kel’s place, but I thought I’d take a look at the park for a second.”</p><p>“I was too, I thought I could use a change of scenery after me and Kim went to the movies. She took a nap sometime afterwards, so I thought, why not just take a walk around and enjoy the lights?” She giggled sheepishly.</p><p>“Oh, what’d you two see?” Sunny asked, the tip of his fingers touching through his coat’s pockets. He just wanted to say how pretty she looked, he wanted to say all the wonderful things he was thinking about to her. The words practically took cover within his voice box. The absolute cowardice of his words.</p><p>“O-Oh, we went to see Into the Space-verse! Kim pretty much fell in love with Spacewoman instantaneously, so I knew she was having a blast. I was just hooked in my seat for the whole ride through.” Aubrey continued anxiously toying with her hair. “Y-You should go see it sometime if you can!”</p><p>Sunny admired how much she toyed with her hair. <em>How could she get cuter with every passing second?</em>, he thought to himself. “O-Oh, yeah! I’ll definitely look into it one of these days!” He took a look at the park. He <em>did</em> have time to spare. “W-Wanna hang out at the park for a bit? I-I mean unless you’re busy!”</p><p>She giggled at Sunny’s fluster, finding the feeling mutual. “Sure! I got time to kill! It’s been a while since we hung out here!”</p><p>Music to Sunny’s flushed ears as they approached the park ground. It was still open for guests, but Sunny and Aubrey knew that the swing set they used to go to was currently occupied, and the less they looked like weirdos swinging around in a playground made for young kids, the better. They found an open field of the park and took a second to take in the view of Faraway coated in all the snow it could be covered with. The lights of the city shone through the night sky as they could even hear the occasional Christmas music and caroling near Gino’s and the park plaza. It was a sight that was almost magical.</p><p>Then Sunny got his cheek well-acquainted with a snowball from Aubrey, who burst out laughing.</p><p>“Haha! You fell for the old sneak attack!” She smirked playfully; another snowball clutched in her hand like a grenade.</p><p>Sunny smirked right back. “Oh, you’re <em>on</em>!” Sunny shoveled a piece of snow into his hands, molding it into a snowball as he fired right back at her. It missed, but the residue hit her legs, to which she yelped in laughter.</p><p>The two of them kept chucking snowballs at each other as if it were a game of war. Aubrey firing consecutive snowballs at Sunny, where he retaliated with more meaty ones, chock full of snow. “Giving up yet?” Sunny retorted teasingly.</p><p>Aubrey fired another one. “In your dreams, ass-wipe!” She giggled competitively as Sunny evaded that shot. She hunched her knees over, like a gunslinger. “This town ain’t big enough for the two of us!”</p><p>Sunny smirked, playing along as he imitated his best southern drawl. “No, it can’t, milady! I suggest you turn on back on your horse there down to the canyons!”</p><p>She burst out in laughter at his impersonation. “Jesus, that’s your best accent?”</p><p>“Let’s just say I happen to, well…” He chucked a snowball upward towards her, splashing her clean in the hair. “…succeed with <em>flying </em>colors!” He smirked, where Aubrey laughed back at him as she wiped off snow from her hair.</p><p>She jumped on him, the two of them playfully horsing around and wrestling in the snow. “And he’s down on the ground! 1… 2… 3…”</p><p>Sunny struggled, sticking his tongue out in an unsportsmanlike manner as he tried to get off the ground. Damn, she had him pinned! But not for long, as Sunny finally wrestled himself on top of Aubrey. “Now she’s down! 1… 2… 3…”</p><p>The two of them stopped their countdown as they laughed at their current predicament, Sunny flopping right off of her and laying next to her in the snow as the two of them gazed at the sky above. “Heh heh… It really is pretty out tonight, huh?”</p><p>“It sure is…” Aubrey giggled back, the both of them covered in snow as she shook Sunny for a second. “Hey, I know that one up there! That’s Orion!” She said, pointing up towards the esteemed star constellation up in the sky.</p><p>Sunny looked up to see Orion’s stars shining brightly against the night sky, and he chuckled. “Yeah, there it is!” Sunny looked around, seeing another constellation. “Oh, there’s Sagittarius!”</p><p>Aubrey peeked at where Sunny was pointing, and smiled. “Heh, yeah! The centaur, wasn’t it?”</p><p>Sunny nodded. “Oh, I see another one!”</p><p>“Where?” Aubrey asked, as Sunny pointed to his northwest.</p><p>“Right there, that’s Cygnus! The swan constellation!” He smiled, knowing what it actually meant in his mind as his cheeks flushed.</p><p>“Man, you’re such a dork.” Aubrey snickered, which caused Sunny to chuckle right back.</p><p>The two of them laid and stared at the stars for quite a while, their hands conspicuously close to one another as they both realized this and blushed madly.</p><p>After a good amount of time stargazing, the two of them rose from the snow, but not before Sunny slipped for a second, tumbling down the hill before lying still at the bottom. Aubrey raced after him, worried. “Sunny! A-Are you okay?”</p><p>He grasped his hip reflexively, as he noticed a stray thorn vine having hit the wound. He must’ve squished it as he tumbled. Just because it wasn’t as painful as it was earlier didn’t mean it was totally back to normal now. “I-I’m fine…!”</p><p>“Yeah, no. Something’s off, you’re clutching your hip in pain.”</p><p>“I-I’m okay, Aubrey, r-really!”</p><p>“Bullshit, Sunny! Lemme take a look.”</p><p>She raised Sunny’s shirt for a second after dusting him off, wanting to see what he was grabbing his hip for. And that was when she saw it. The airsoft wound Elliot gifted him. “Oh shit…!”</p><p>Sunny lied his head back. Well, now she knew.</p><p>“Sunny, who did this to you? What happened?!” She clutched Sunny’s face with her hands, placing his shirt back down. She had an expression on her face of concern, worried like hell for her best friend.</p><p>He knew he couldn’t hide it anymore. “Remember when I told you I was being bullied at school…?”</p><p>She nodded worryingly, already starting to put the pieces together as she patched up the wound with some snow. Seeing as she didn’t bring any medical supplies with her, it was going to have to do. “Oh no…”</p><p>“Yeah, he shot me with a BB gun before I came here to Faraway… Called me a monster and a freak for what happened to Mari… Said all this shit to me that I’d rather not repeat here…” Sunny grimaced as the snow made the wound feel ice cold to the touch, but he knew that it was the best they could do. “And now he’s in Faraway…”</p><p>Aubrey lifted Sunny up with one hand, a fist clenched in the other. “What’s his name, Sunny?”</p><p>“Elliot…” Sunny grunted, still a little woozy from the tumble. It was a miracle the fall didn’t knock out his prosthetic eye. To be fair, he had his eyes closed.</p><p>She took an angered sigh. Whoever this Elliot was, she’d be ready for him. “Well, let’s get you back up on your feet.” She said, as she lifted Sunny up completely.</p><p>The two of them walked towards the exit of the park. Sunny occasionally pressed his head with his hand from how much the headache from the tumble was pushing at him. Aubrey looked at him gently. “Try to get Hero to patch the wound up, okay? Can you do that for me?”</p><p>Sunny nodded sincerely. “I’ll do that.”</p><p>She smiled in relief. “Hey, it <em>was</em> nice to spend time with you tonight. Gotta say, you’re not half bad at snowball fights.”</p><p>Sunny chuckled. “And you’re not half bad at wrestling.”</p><p>The two of them continued to chuckle at each other as they spontaneously began to hug each other. And for a moment, they gazed into each other’s eyes. The town lights complimenting their looks rather beautifully as they continued to stare at each other. They both just about leaned in…</p><p>“Hey, Sunny! There you are!” Kel’s voice chimed in from nearby, causing both him and Aubrey to freeze in their tracks.</p><p><em>Cockblocker</em><em>…</em>, Sunny thought to himself, while the two of them stared at each other, breaking off the hug quickly while red to the face.</p><p>Kel smirked his usual smirk, completely and obliviously unaware of how he ruined the moment. Aubrey practically marched towards him, blushing like hell, and kicked him clean in the nuts. It was the shot heard ‘round the world.</p><p>“KEL, YOU GODDAMN SON OF A BITCH! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, SNEAKING UP ON US LIKE THAT, HUH?!” Aubrey shouted at Kel, who practically winced in pain as she towered over him. Yep, there’s the Aubrey they knew.</p><p>“Owwwww! Okay, sorry! Just didn’t think it was you guys at first!” Kel apologized relentlessly, holding his crotch region in meticulous agony. As much as Sunny hated to admit it, Kel asked for that one.</p><p>After a fair few seconds, Kel rose from the ground, still somewhat in pain. “I was – ow! – Just coming to pick Sunny up for the night! It was getting kinda – <em>ow</em>! – late.”</p><p>Sunny checked his watch. December 18<sup>th</sup>, 10:11 P.M. He really must’ve been out for a bit.</p><p>Sunny stepped forward to Kel, then looked at Aubrey. “Well, I-I’ll guess I’ll see you… Aubrey!” He stuttered a little, still a bit red from how they almost just locked lips for a second.</p><p>Aubrey must’ve felt the same, as she smiled sweetly at Sunny. “I’ll see you, S-Sunny!”</p><p>Kel and Sunny walked back towards his place. Amidst the occasional “ow”-s from Kel, he managed to pipe in one little comment. “You lucky guy. I told you that you were smooth when you needed to. Just a shame I came in at the worst time, heh.”</p><p>Sunny smirked. “Want <em>me</em> to kick you in the nuts?”</p><p>Kel yelped in fear. “N-Nah, I’m good!” He chuckled nervously. Sunny laughed a bit in response. He truly was picking up a lot from Aubrey.</p><p>Once everyone was settled back in and Hero patched up Sunny’s wound, all the while explaining the situation to Basil, who kept hugging him all the while in worry, Sunny got into his pj’s. As did everyone else, as they all practically hit the hay soon afterwards.</p><p>Sunny still laid there, thinking about how he and Aubrey had such a moment together. A smile creeped in on his face as he started to drift off. But before he did, his thoughts were focused on one simple thing.</p><p>It was time he confessed to her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Choices</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny is left with more promises to make, and the choice becoming harder and harder for him.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sunny finally fell asleep that night expecting another nightmare about how Omori was still looming over him like a phantom in the dark, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.</p><p>What he didn’t expect was for him to wake up in what looked like a ballroom, wearing what looked like a nicely-ironed palace suit as he sat on a chair near the chapel hallway. The room seemed peppered with what looked like olden English flowers and the same insignia from Sunny’s shield in the last dream. It was definitely the same castle from his previous dream. What, was he now going to be labelled as King Sunny now, if its keeping continuity?</p><p>“Hey, hero of the kingdom! You awake?” Kel, in a darker-colored suit by contrast, asked Sunny. It seemed even in a medieval-styled dream, Kel kept his usual aloof spirits.</p><p>“O-Oh, yeah, apologies.” Sunny spoke, knowing full well this was a dream but finding the words easily coming out of his mouth. He checked his neck, seeing as Omori stabbed it last time, and sure enough, nothing. Dreams were <em>weird</em>. “Did we… did we kill Something?”</p><p>Kel grinned cheekily. “Well, if the something you’re referring to is the dragon, then yea. We did slay the beast.”</p><p>It became evident with dream Kel’s medieval lingo that Sunny had watched too many movies.</p><p>The two of them entered the ballroom to see lines of partners dancing with each other in a medieval waltz, twirling and swaying in rhythm with the music as romantically as if they were all lovers. A cheery beat was being played by an orchestra that consisted of primarily stringed instruments. Basil was tending to the plants using some kind of spell, while Hero was residing near the bard.</p><p>Something within Sunny felt shaken at the concept of Hero drinking, even in a fantasy dream.</p><p>And there she was: Aubrey in a downright gorgeous white dress walking towards Sunny, a softly-laced veil over her head. Within seconds, the entirety of the castle faded into nothingness and was replaced with a sprawling floral meadow. It was just the two of them now as Sunny walked over to her, him now dressed in a nicely-sewn and ironed tuxedo. He lifted Aubrey’s veil, as her perfect pink hair slumped to her shoulders. It was beautifully braided, flowers strewn here and there across the strands, and her eyelashes wonderfully lidded as she gazed romantically at Sunny.</p><p>Sunny knelt before her, kissing her hand like a true knight to a princess, to which she giggled preciously. He then rose off of the ground and took Aubrey’s other hand. As soon as he did so, what sounded like soft piano music began to play in the distance, as if Mari were providing the musical score of their moment. It was soothing, romantic, and pleasant. Kinda like Aubrey.</p><p>“S-Shall I have this dance?” Sunny stuttered. He may’ve known this was a dream, but it was always a good preparation for the inevitable real deal. She then bowed, as they both took each other’s hands and began to dance.</p><p>Their movements were gradual, slow, and graceful. Sunny was in the lead, pirouetting Aubrey around gently while on the tips of his hands as she spun. Their eyes were glued to each other as they continued to dance within the glaze of the calm breeze, both of their hair calmly flowing with the wind as there was nothing but the two of them. Birds chirped nearby as the two of them leaned in close to each other’s bodies, tip-toeing softly amongst the grass as they embraced one another. Sunny felt his heart beat faster and faster as a cold blush returned to his face. They both closed their eyes as they relished in the moment. He wished it would go on forever.</p><p>“Aubrey, I…” Sunny muttered out anxiously as they danced. He didn’t care if it wasn’t the real deal. If he was gonna say it, he figured he’d use this as a stepping stone. “I love you.”</p><p>The dream Aubrey smiled back at him. “I know.”</p><p>The two of them hugged sweetly for a while, as the grass beneath their feet turned into a field of roses. Velvet roses that whispered softly in the oasis of the breeze. Sunny and the dream Aubrey gazed at each other, love stricken into their eyes as they both leaned in softly…</p><p>“Sunny! Wake up, I think you’ll be happy to see this!”</p><p><em>Is this going to be a regular thing with you?</em>, Sunny thought as he woke up to see Kel’s standard smirk. Much as Sunny lamented such a genuinely beautiful dream being cut short, he rolled off his mattress rather sloppily. He really wasn’t expecting to be woken up after a dream like that.</p><p>Nevertheless, Sunny did get himself out of bed and walked down to the living room, where out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aubrey at the front door with her belongings. He could just barely overhear the conversation happening as his mind fluttered about rapidly at her surprise presence.</p><p>“…Kim’s family came home for the holidays and there sadly wasn’t much room for me to stay, much as Kim persisted, so I figured I’d stay over here instead, seeing as everyone else is staying here…” She stopped her sentence as soon as she laid eyes on Sunny, a small, but noticeable, blush appearing on both of their faces. Kel couldn’t help but grin, seeing as everyone in the group but her noticed Sunny’s crush on her, and for someone as headstrong and as outspoken as Aubrey, to see her in such a position was telling. “O-Oh, Sunny, good morning! Glad to see you’re up!”</p><p>Sunny blushed harder after hearing her voice again, as if he was thinking he was still in his dream dancing with her. “H-Hey Aubrey! Uhhh, nice to see you!”</p><p>Kel couldn’t help but muster a slight knowing snicker, to which <em>Basil</em>, of all people, tugged on his sleeve in a reprimanding manner, and shook his head at him.</p><p>“I’m sorry for overhearing your conversation, I just was s-surprised… And I’m sorry to hear about Kim too!” Sunny stifled out to her.</p><p>“Oh, no need to worry about that! She had no hard feelings!” She reassured Sunny, setting aside her stuff, placing Bunbun’s cage gently on the couch, to which the rabbit stared at everyone in greeting. “I see you slept well.” Aubrey giggled playfully, to which Sunny flushed harder when he noticed his bedhead. He giggled back in embarrassment.</p><p>The day went by as well as one would imagine. The gang spent the entirety of the day indoors, seeing as the weather grew progressively more hectic, with barreling amounts of snow and wind blanketing any bits that may have melted in the sunlight. It got to the point where the news station advised people to keep indoors if they could, and that the weather should calm down by tomorrow.</p><p>Kel groaned a little at the announcement. “Ugh! That’s a bummer!”</p><p>Aubrey sighed a bit through her nose at that. “Kel… is there any time you’re not bummed out about not being able to go outside? Houses exist for a reason, you know?”</p><p>“But the weather outside is more adventurous! I planned on having Sunny play some basketball with me outside in the driveway!” He groaned again, being his usual extroverted self again.</p><p>Sunny smiled a bit at the two of them bickering as usual. “Kel, I would love to… but you and I both know I’d lose in a matter of seconds.”</p><p>“It’s a home field advantage, Sunny! Nothing can go wrong then!”</p><p>Aubrey smirked sneakily. “Tell that to your varsity team at last month’s game.”</p><p>Kel placed a hand to his heart. “Aubrey! Too soon!”</p><p>The gang practically had the entire house to themselves, and the first thing Hero did was pull out as bunch of old board games. Kel grinned from ear to ear at the sight of chess amongst many others. “All right! The classics!”</p><p>Hero smirked, laying out the chess board in front of the whole group and setting the pieces up. It was Aubrey and Sunny versus Kel and Hero, and Basil was the spectator. Aubrey and Sunny had the black pieces while Kel and Hero had the white pieces.</p><p>Aubrey made the first move, sliding a pawn up one space on the board. Sunny eyed the board observationally, trying to see a good strategy to take.</p><p>Hero went next, moving a bishop piece diagonally two spaces to the right. An intimidation tactic, meant to draw out the cannon fodder to distract the pawns so he could make the moves towards the checkmate when necessary.</p><p>Kel’s turn, as he moved a pawn up a space, similarly to Aubrey. Perhaps he was trying to provide support to the bishop if possible?</p><p>Sunny was up, and he continued to gaze upon the board in front of them. The bishop was near the center of the board, right up the middle from their side off east. The pawn was right on its tail, most likely as backup to prevent an easy takedown. Aubrey’s piece looked idly defenseless against what Kel and Hero might’ve been planning. Sunny took the bishop’s piece and played it similarly to Hero, only now on the west. The ball was in Aubrey’s court now to plan their attack.</p><p>Aubrey had to admit, Sunny’s tactics were a little interesting. She never really took him as a chess player, much less someone who knew how the game worked, back in the day. But she had to hand it to him, Sunny apparently had a plan and he was going for it.</p><p>She took a separate pawn and moved it up one square. She knew where Sunny was headed.</p><p>All throughout the game, Sunny and Aubrey planned their moves carefully, swerving around the enemy in tactics built more for surprise and defense, contrasting Kel and Hero’s more offensive approach. They were broader, more front-line, which made them ripe picking for Aubrey’s rooks and Sunny’s bishops.</p><p>Twenty minutes passed and it was all down to the last few pieces. Aubrey and Sunny had the advantage, but they knew they were most likely had to play their trump card soon. It was time to get Kel and Hero’s king trapped. Otherwise, they were sitting ducks.</p><p>Aubrey made her move. Using the last space left, she moved the queen near Kel’s king, and trapped him clean.</p><p>“Checkmate.” She muttered victoriously, to which Kel and Hero both were flabbergasted.</p><p>“What?! We had everything set up and ready for you guys! How did you guys win?!” Kel said, in total shock at how their offensive strategy didn’t pan out.</p><p>Sunny chimed in. “We weren’t trying to win. We were painting a picture.”</p><p>In spite of Kel’s usual arrogance, they nonetheless conceded the loss and congratulated each other, with Aubrey and Kel doing so while practically gritting their teeth.</p><p>A few hours and a few more board games later, like Battleship (where Kel won against Basil in easy fashion), Twister (where Sunny plopped on the floor due to not being the most flexible), and mahjongg (where everyone was stumped), Hero began prepping up dinner for everyone. Aubrey was in the spare bedroom, with Sunny helping her put her things up, while Basil and Kel both sitting on the counter playing another round of Pet Rock.</p><p>As Aubrey had just finished setting up with Sunny’s assistance, she sat down on the edge of the bed and flopped down on it. “Augh, that was exhausting as hell!”</p><p>Sunny smiled tiringly, it must’ve really taken a bit out of him too. “Tell me about it…”</p><p>The two of them lied against the legs of the bed. Aubrey was the first to speak, “How’s the wound doing? Does it still hurt?”</p><p>“Hero patched it up and got it taken care of. It’s still there, but at least it might show signs of healing.” Sunny nervously muttered. Being this close to the girl he fell in love with was starting to become a pattern at this rate, as if they both were at the hands of an overly-pretentious writer who thinks his work is smarter than it really is. “Funny, now I have to rate this wound compared to the others I’ve had to put up with.”</p><p>While Sunny may have meant that in jest, Aubrey frowned a little. “Sunny, are you doing okay?”</p><p>Sunny sighed a little. He remembered the Stranger’s words again.</p><p>“You must learn to forgive yourself, Sunny. It’s the only way.”</p><p>He remembered Omori’s threats and debasement.</p><p>“<strong>You think she’d love you back? After every ounce of suffering you caused her for four years?</strong>”</p><p>“<strong>All you’ll do is doom her to a life of torment with the one who killed what’s closest to her. She will resent you for it. She will be sickened by you. It’s like I said, Sunny, your feelings for her are not real.</strong>”</p><p>But then he remembered Mari’s words.</p><p>“The fact that you’ve made it this far is an achievement of its own, Sunny. And the gang’s even forgiven you for it, so you can put that bit off your shoulders.”</p><p>He knew what to say, but he never knew if he had the strength to do it.</p><p>“Aubrey…?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“I don’t know if I can truly forgive myself for what I did to Mari. I know you all did, but… why?” Sunny asked, finally allowing himself this moment to be vulnerable. “After everything I’ve done to all of you? To us?”</p><p>Aubrey wanted to speak, but she knew that Sunny needed this moment to let it all out. It reminded her of how she initially wanted to tear Sunny down in that hospital, and something told her that he <em>expected</em> that response. From <em>everyone</em>.</p><p>“I still have nightmares about it every day. It haunts me at every second, like a legion of eyes staring at me in eternal judgment. I sometimes think that things would’ve been so much better if it was me that died-“</p><p>Aubrey put her hand to Sunny’s mouth. “I don’t want to hear another word about yourself like that, you hear me?” She said, a small pinch of frustration in her voice akin to her punk days, but not without care for her friend.</p><p>Sunny nodded, as Aubrey wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands cupping his cheeks. “Much as what happened hurts all of us, let’s make one thing clear: it was an accident. You never meant to hurt Mari, much less kill her. You and Basil never meant for any of this to happen, and have suffered long enough. I don’t care how many hells and how many nightmares have told you otherwise, you’re still our Sunny. And quite frankly, we forgive you, because we know you better than everyone else does. I know how hard of a choice it is to forgive yourself of something like that, accident or not, but I want you to promise me that you’ll do it for me. Now, no more talking like that about yourself. That’s my best friend you’re talking about.”</p><p>Sunny could feel his heart race as he felt the need to hold in any tears that would’ve formed in what must’ve been a record amount of times now. She used her thumb to wipe away at his tears. An earnest smile on her face as she leans into him… and then the door opened.</p><p>“Hey, guys! Dinner’s ready… <em>oh</em>.” Kel backed up for a second, seeing Aubrey and Sunny once again in near-kissing range. Aubrey and Sunny broke their position in seconds, a murderous glare piercing through Aubrey’s eyes as Sunny practically froze in place.</p><p>“Kel… I am going to kill you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Lights</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny comes face to face with his demons once again, but he finds safety within the comfort of others around him.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A small rustling noise from downstairs woke Sunny up immediately. The others were still fast asleep in their beds as Sunny checked the time. December 20<sup>th</sup>, 12:55 A.M.</p><p>Maybe it was Hector pawing at the door? No, he was laying right next to Sunny.</p><p>Was it Bunbun doing some midnight adventuring? No, he remembered putting the bunny’s cage up with Aubrey.</p><p>Sunny quietly rose from the mattress, not trying to disturb anyone as he quietly closed the door behind him. Without a lot of the lights on in the house, it looked a lot less jovial and welcoming, now it looked dilapidated and empty, as if it was wearing over time.</p><p>Sunny felt a small chill creeping up his spine. Something just wasn’t right here; he could feel it.</p><p>He silently descended down the steps, which felt like it was echoing with every step he took. What sounded and felt like gusts of subzero wind slithered through the living room as Sunny kept trekking on, scared but still trying to find the root of the problem.</p><p>The sound kept getting louder and louder as he neared the kitchen, and it stopped sounding like rustling and instead started to sound like breathing. Frayed, clinical breathing. And it was coming from the basement, of which Sunny had never seen before. Or did he and he’s just having difficulties remembering?</p><p>He creaked the door open, only to see a longer flight of stairs pressing through a mighty expanse of darkness.</p><p>He wanted to close the door and just retreat into the mattress to escape amongst the safety of his friends’ presence, but as soon as he turned around, it was as if the entire house got a whole lot darker, like in a blackout. It felt like nowhere was safe.</p><p>Sunny stepped through the door cautiously, as the breathing began growing louder, like it was peering over his shoulder. He kept going down the steps, which felt endless with every single solitary step.</p><p>After what might’ve been an eternity, he reached the bottom floor, having nowhere to go as he was alone in the lightless chasm. Another chill, much more potent than the last one, snaked through Sunny’s backbone as he felt his heart begin to beat faster. The air was much colder, and the breathing noises were starting to get uncomfortably close to Sunny’s ears. A familiar voice began to whisper in the dark.</p><p>“Sunny… I love you…”</p><p>Off the corner of his eye, Something blocked the stairway back up, which made Sunny visibly recoil. He was AFRAID. He thought he was done with this.</p><p>He retreated further into the basement away from Something as it just stood there, perpetually gazing at him as he was now surrounded by the encompassing blackness around him. He didn’t know where he was going, as he found himself even smashing headfirst into what were probably walls. He couldn’t tell, and that scared him even more.</p><p>What he felt like were escapes from Something near the exit only brought him further into contact with it. He was pretty much surrounded on all fronts by Something.</p><p>Sunny tried one last time to run further away from it, only to now be acquainted with what felt like a brick wall. What would’ve maybe been humorous without context like a cartoon, or a sitcom were taken advantage of for horror here. The only thing Sunny could see was a small string which looked like it was connected to a light source. With haste, he pulled on it, only to find the light was dim and could only hold Sunny around for so long. And it did nothing to stop Something from circling around him.</p><p>It was useless, he was trapped. Encircled by the demon of his mind as he curled up in terror. But then Sunny had to look up for just a moment.</p><p>Sunny then was face to face with what could only be described as a hellish mimic of Omori. It loomed amidst the dark, the light shining its massive, gaping mouth as its ghastly white eyes stared Sunny down, its face locked in a never-ending scream. It hunched like a cryptid or a wendigo, its emasculated arms impending dangerously to Sunny’s neck as its breathing was more vested, like a hunter seeking its prey.</p><p>Never had Sunny ever seen something so vile, so horrible, so unimaginably terrifying in his life until now.</p><p>Sunny tried to CALM DOWN, but his lungs froze to the touch.</p><p>Sunny tried to FOCUS, but his eyes wished they had never seen it.</p><p>Sunny tried to PERSIST, but he found his heart wanting to stop.</p><p>Sunny tried to OVERCOME, but found his body growing weaker.</p><p>He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, he wanted to hide. But with either action he wanted to take, he found himself too terrified to move.</p><p>The sounds of a grandfather clock echoed into the basement halls as Sunny curled up further, paralyzed at the nightmarish monster in front of him as it creeped itself ever so close to him. Its disturbingly human hands shambled to Sunny’s sides as its mouth began to widen, far beyond anything that a human could feasibly do. Hanging precariously over his head like a voracious snake as its arms looped around Sunny, trapping him in a freezing embrace, constricted completely as its arms coiled around him. Inside of its mouth rested an eye like Something’s very own, but bloodshot and bloodied.</p><p>Sunny tried to struggle against his bindings, but every time he fought, the creature’s arms gripped tighter and tighter, nearly on the verge of breaking his body. He struggled to breathe, all while Omori’s voice whispered into his ears as the lightbulb went out.</p><p>“<strong>She lies, Sunny. They all lie to you.</strong>” Omori whispered monotonously in the dark. “<strong>But I can make it all better. I always have made it all better for you.</strong>”</p><p>Sunny wanted to retort, but couldn’t muster the breath to even think of a comeback. The arms of the creature had him pinned completely.</p><p>“<strong>Or have you forgotten me? Like you forgot your friends for four years? Do you think of me now as just a stepping stone for you to trample on as I’m eventually cast aside like dirt? Is this what you think of Mari?</strong>” Omori’s voice, despite still being its emotionless norm, sounded laced with malice. “<strong>Soon they will all forget <em>you</em>. And when everything is said and done, everyone will only know you as the monster who killed those who loved him the most. You’re nothing more than treacherous, only looking out for yourself at the expense of everyone around him. You’re despicable.</strong>”</p><p>A voice echoed in the dark distance. “Sunny… Sunny…”</p><p>“SUNNY!”</p><p>Sunny opened his eyes to see Aubrey, Kel, Basil, Hero, and even Hector all gazing at Sunny worriedly within the workshop portion of the basement, all of them still in their night clothes. Sunny knew he worried his friends badly, and hid his face on his knees ashamedly, tears starting to trickle down his face.</p><p>“We heard noises in the basement, and we saw you weren’t in bed, is everything okay?” Hero asked frantically, as everyone all came close to Sunny in an attempt to comfort him. Hector laid his head gently near Sunny’s legs in an attempt to cheer him up, a slight whimper escaping the dog’s lips.</p><p>Sunny could only shake his head, but couldn’t find the words to explain himself. He started to cry again.</p><p>“Hey, hey… it’s okay, it’s okay. We’re here now.” Aubrey whispered, pulling Sunny in gently into a hug, where everyone else followed suit. Basil cradling Sunny’s left side while Aubrey tended to his right, while Kel and Hero brought it all into another group hug, all while Hector laid softly near Sunny’s legs.</p><p>A fair amount of time passed before everyone went back up to their bedrooms. But when Sunny got up, Aubrey asked. “Sunny, do you want to sleep with me in my bed for tonight? It gets a little lonely with just me by myself, and I figured you’d like someone to keep you comfort.”</p><p>Sunny blushed for a bit, before nodding. Everyone went back to bed, all while Sunny and Aubrey were tucked into the covers.</p><p>The two of them were embraced in another hug while they slept, Aubrey caressing Sunny’s head as she was most likely comforting him further from his panic attack.</p><p>There was no presence of Something or Omori here.</p><p>He was safe with her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Mistletoe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fate finally entwines around Sunny on one special night, as he finally confronts the biggest hurdle in his life thus far.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a heads-up, for a specific part in this chapter, said part is best experienced with this particular song. You probably know exactly what I'm talking about.<br/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vg_-kFS_nA</p><p>Hope this was well worth the wait. &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sunny finally awoke comfortably in Aubrey’s bed, wrapped up softly in each other’s arms. Aubrey still seemed to be asleep for the time being, but he felt so safe in her arms that he could potentially fall asleep again. Much as he wanted to, Aubrey herself woke up, retreating her arms as she stretched. Her eyes opened to see Sunny already awake, but surely comfortable in his position.</p><p>“Hey, good morning, Sunny! Doing a little better?” Aubrey asked sweetly.</p><p>Sunny couldn’t really tell. He wasn’t quite all sunshine and rainbows, but he wasn’t feeling like he was gonna fall apart at the lightest touch either like last night. “I’m… okay, I guess? Definitely better than last night, I’ll give it that.”</p><p>Aubrey responded by gently petting his head affectionately. “Hey, it’s okay. Shit happens, but you’re doing okay.”</p><p>Sunny once again felt the warmness of her touch pulsating inside of his skin, skewering any lingering semblances of doubt still within the poor kid. All except for one.</p><p>“Hey, Aubrey…?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Do you remember when I first stepped out of the house in four years, and I had a knife on me?” Sunny asked softly, clearly uncomfortable with revisiting that memory.</p><p>Aubrey grimaced a bit, also not liking to be reminded of her delinquent days where she acted like a callous jerk to everyone in a misaimed attempt at retribution. “You never used it on me, Sunny.”</p><p>“But there’s still the fact that I had it on me at all. I was just so… not used to being outside anymore that I felt the need to have something to defend myself with.” Sunny got nervous again, worried he was starting to agitate Aubrey with how much he fretted and regretted what’s happened back then.</p><p>“Shh, Sunny, listen to me. It’s like I told you, not a single nightmare or anything of the sort is going to change our minds. You’re forgiven of what happened, and it’s final.” She calmly reassured Sunny.</p><p>Sunny smiled a little bit, even if the events of last night and the creature that stared him down still dwelled on his subconscious. “Can I have another cooldown hug for a bit?”</p><p>Aubrey giggled softly. “Of course you can.” She smiled and pulled Sunny in for another hug. And with that, Sunny felt as if time ceased to be, locked in perpetual stasis of comfort and serenity within her arms.</p><p>“Aubrey, I…” Sunny was beginning to speak, but struggled to muster the words yet again. Now wasn’t the time, as he had just had to deal with himself being at a dark moment last night. He needed a better setting, a better environment, he needed to just have it be her and him, with no prying eyes. “I… was wondering if you and I wanted to do something tonight? I never really got to make it up to you for all those four years.”</p><p>Aubrey’s face lit up red for a hot minute, as if she was both wanting to hear that question, while still being in simultaneous shock. “S-Sure! Uhhh, what do you wanna do?”</p><p>“Maybe we could hang out at Gino’s together later tonight?” Sunny asked.</p><p>Aubrey smiled softly at that. “That does sound nice, yeah.”</p><p>The two of them got cleaned up and checked out the weather outside. It was snowing, but definitely not to the brim like it was last night. The entire day surrounding the two was spent being shy and flustered towards each other, almost as if they were already in a relationship.</p><p>Night soon came and was when the two of them gave a knowing nod, to where they both got their coats and winter gear on. Hero noticed them heading out. “Oh, where are you two going?”</p><p>The two of them flushed for a moment, unsure of how to deviate any freelance thoughts that the two of them were dating. Aubrey covered for them. “Oh, we’re just going out to Gino’s! Just figured we’d get some fresh air now that we’re not as snowed in like yesterday!”</p><p>It probably wasn’t the best of cover-ups, but it was delivered with a fair amount of conviction to maybe steer the prying thoughts away. Little did she know that she was pretty much the only one unaware of how they knew Sunny was crushing on her. “Oh, alright, have fun, you two!” Hero responded in kind, with Kel snickering knowingly towards Sunny, which Hero and Basil responded by tugging on his ears a bit. A short “OW!” could be heard as the two of them shut the door behind them. Unbeknownst to the two of them… well, maybe just Aubrey… the trio in the house were smiling proudly at Sunny for taking the initiative.</p><p>The snow still glistened over the town of Faraway as Sunny and Aubrey passed by numerous houses on their way to Gino’s. There wasn’t much in the way of conversation, mostly due to how flustered the two of them were. In the midst of stopping at one of the stop signs on the road, Aubrey took a glimpse at Sunny, who gazed up towards the snowy sky longingly, almost in awe. He probably didn’t know it, but Aubrey was in adoration at how cute and precious he looked gazing up at the night sky. Perhaps Sunny wasn’t lonely in feelings for the other, even if he wasn’t aware of it yet.</p><p>The silence couldn’t always be the thing that permeated, though, as Sunny was the first to start a conversation. “I know this is just a few minutes since we left Kel’s place, but… I really am glad you and I got to go out together. I cannot begin to apologize enough for those silent four years.”</p><p>Aubrey chuckled a little bit, endeared by how genuine Sunny meant those words. “Aww, yeah, it is kinda nice to get out of the house every once in a while, isn’t it?” She laughed a bit, teasing Sunny as she nudged him.</p><p>Sunny chuckled back after she did so. “Yeah, I’ve earned that one.”</p><p>Aubrey laughed again. “Aww, don’t start making me feel bad about it now! I had the wind-up and everything!”</p><p>The two laughed more as they neared the hub area of the marketplace, the inside lights of the pizzeria plus the Christmas decorations outside blanketing the parking lot. “Well, here we are.” Sunny took the opportunity and opened up the door for his date. “After you, milady.”</p><p>Aubrey giggled. “Oh, why, thank you, darling.” She sauntered, playing along with Sunny’s liveliness. It may have been a new occurrence for Aubrey, but not something she was complaining about.</p><p>The pizzeria’s Christmas decorations didn’t just stem to the outside, it seemed, as the inside was all set with its own Christmas tree, posters, and even special discounts for the holidays. The waiter recognized them right off the bat. “Ah, my favorite customers! How are you this evening?”</p><p>“Cold.” Sunny said bluntly, causing an unexpected giggle from Aubrey.</p><p>“Well, aren’t we all? How many this evening, or is it just you two?”</p><p>“Just us two this evening!” Aubrey answered.</p><p>“Alrighty! Come with me, please.” The waiter then led the two to a spare table near the jukebox, of which it was playing nothing but jazz renditions of Christmas music. The pair didn’t bother to change it, thinking it was just too fitting for the mood as they sat down while the waiter gave them their menus, and then walked away to tend to the other guests at the restaurant.</p><p>“You know, never thought this place would really get into the Christmas spirit.” Sunny chuckled as he surveyed the menu. Now that the fluster was out of the way, the two of them were a lot more charismatic and chattier towards each other.</p><p>“Oh, trust me, they pull out all the stops. It’s what gets the kids here the quickest.” Aubrey snarked, eyeing Sunny in a “you know I’m right” kind of way.</p><p>Sunny chuckled back. “Where’s your Christmas spirit?”</p><p>The two chuckled at each other’s sass, but off the corner of his eye, Sunny saw Elliot’s truck parked near the pizzeria through the window. He took a quick glance around. Thankfully, Sunny didn’t see anyone remotely related to Elliot nor Elliot himself in the pizzeria. So for the moment, the coast was clear. For now.</p><p>Aubrey caught a second of Sunny glancing about nervously, and smiled reassuringly at him, propping her hand gently on top of Sunny’s, rubbing it softly with her thumb. “Hey, you alright?”</p><p>“I think Elliot’s around here. He’s not in the pizzeria, but I see his truck.” Sunny answered honestly, seeing as there was no way he was gonna hide that from her any longer.</p><p>Aubrey grimaced a little hearing that asshole’s name, much less knowing that he was close by. But she wasn’t gonna let that ruin their little date together. Yeah, Aubrey was starting to get used to calling it that. “Well, if he causes shit, I’ll be ready for him.”</p><p>The waiter came back shortly after. “Hello there, what can I get you tonight?”</p><p>“I’ll take a soda with a whole pizza, please.” Aubrey responded to the waiter’s question in a manner that brought to mind her gentler self from back when they were children.</p><p><br/>“Okay, and how about for you?” He asked, turning to Sunny.</p><p>Sunny seemed a bit preoccupied with Aubrey gently rubbing her thumb against his hand. Did… Did she have feelings for him too? Or was this just simple reassurance? But he did respond after just a hot second. “O-Oh, sorry, I’ll have the same thing she’s having.”</p><p>Aubrey giggled. “We’ll share it, sir.”</p><p>Sunny considered that a lucky save. There was no way he would’ve finished an entire whole pizza by himself, even with his renewed strength after four years of barely eating much. Hero’s meals that he cooked were always enough to satisfy him for even a whole month, especially with him checking in on Sunny’s health every so often.</p><p>The waiter took their menus and went off to the kitchen, leaving Sunny and Aubrey to each other. To everyone else that would’ve maybe taken a gander at the two, it would’ve seemed like the two were on the most romantic date of their lives, a prime example of young love. To these two, they were really struggling to spit the words out to each other.</p><p>Nonetheless, the two of them did make quite the conversation with each other, as Aubrey started up first. “So, tell me more about the art that you make in your free time.”</p><p>“Heh, well, I usually tend to base it on whatever’s in my head at the time. Hell, some of it was inspired by the dreams I used to have in the four years I spent by myself.” Sunny responded, a little hesitant to admit the last bit, but it seemed Aubrey didn’t take too much issue with it.</p><p>“Oh, really? Maybe something good came out of all that, then?” She gazed at him teasingly.</p><p>Sunny rubbed the back of his head nervously. “Okay, that’s not what I meant…”</p><p>Aubrey giggled at Sunny’s expense, as the two were finally given their drinks and food from the waiter. “Thank you!” They both replied.</p><p>Within seconds, the two of them dug in to their food. Sunny had honestly missed the taste of Gino’s for the longest time, and he was no doubt envious of Aubrey and the others, who seemingly had a set plan in place to go there every so often at the end of a week.</p><p>“Well, I don’t know if you do commission pieces, but maybe you could do art of me? Not that you have to, of course.” She smiled softly, realizing how bartering she sounded.</p><p>“Ahh, nonsense. I was honestly planning one for a while now, anything for one of the best friends I know.” Sunny answered earnestly, which was enough to earn a blush from Aubrey in response. All of which earned a small chuckle from Sunny, who also was red in the face alongside her.</p><p>“Well then, what kind of piece would you draw of me?” She smiled.</p><p>Sunny pondered on that question for a moment, and this is where he needed to be honest with himself. If he was gonna finally muster the nerve to admit his feelings for her, then the first thing he’d probably do was clue her in. He had been friends with her for years, and he was pretty sure she had feelings for him just as much as he did for her. But he had to remember, he had practically abandoned his friend circle for four years after shoving Mari down the stairs, and not only that, but the day he went out for the first time since then, he had a steak knife on him (despite not using it), didn’t even bother to stop Kel when he rudely interrogated Aubrey in a place of worship, and pepper-sprayed her and the Hooligans at the lake when they cornered Basil. Sure, everything <em>after</em> that got better, and not all of it was Sunny’s thinking and rather the heat of the moment or following along with Kel’s planning, but he wouldn’t be shocked if all of those instances would’ve neutered any sort of romantic interest, but he had to say something. It was time to come clean, since every other attempt got interrupted. “I would most likely draw… you. Just you, amidst a field of gladioluses. As the wind flies through your hair while you smile towards the center of the image… I think it’d be a piece focusing on the beauty of a significant person in the life of someone, and how important they are to them. How much they mean to them. Your eyes would be glistening with the rays of the sunlight, all while a beautiful smile imparts on your cheeks. One of happiness, brevity, and freedom.”</p><p>As Sunny described every moment of the hypothetical art piece, Aubrey was visibly moved at how Sunny described her. Every single word was flattery of the highest honor to her, a sentiment she herself even noted. “Aww, Sunny, I didn’t know you were much for flattery!” She chuckled, a massive blush on her face from every sentence Sunny spoke.</p><p>He felt his heart beat faster. This was it. “Aubrey, I-“</p><p>And wouldn’t you know it, he was interrupted by the waiter coming in to collect the empty pizza tray and the drinks. “How was everything, huh?”</p><p><em>This has gotta be a broken record.</em>, Sunny thought to himself, but at least it wasn’t Kel this time around. Aubrey would’ve kneed him in the dick again if he was the one doing it. “Oh, it was very good, thank you!” He responded, politely but a little miffed that he once again got interrupted on his confession, internally praying that was the last time.</p><p>They both got their table cleaned up and paid the waiter for the food, nearing the exit to the restaurant, where Aubrey asked. “Hey, I’m gonna head to the restroom really quick, is it alright if you can wait for me?”</p><p>“Yeah, no worries! I’ll wait for you outside.”</p><p>Aubrey smiled back gratefully. “Thank you! I should only be a bit!” And like that, she went in the directions of the restrooms while Sunny stepped outside for a moment.</p><p>As soon as the door closed behind him, however, he could overhear someone having a tense conversation over the phone with someone. The voice rung an unfortunately-familiar bell.</p><p>It was Elliot.</p><p>Without exposing himself, Sunny peeked about the corner of the restaurant to see Elliot on the phone with what could only be assumed to be his dad. And from the inflections in his voice, it wasn’t all too pretty.</p><p>“L-Look, Dad, I know I took the truck to Faraway, but I swear I’ll be back in just a few days…!” He whispered fearfully, as the voice on the other end shouted hoarsely back at him. “I-It was just for some fun, I swear to God… I-I’m sorry for swearing… D-Dad, you’re scaring me…”</p><p>Sunny had to admit it, much as he hated to, but even he felt sorry for Elliot in this moment of vulnerability. Didn’t make any of his horrid actions right by any means, but this and maybe even Elsie’s confirmed death made Sunny ponder if underneath the malicious exterior lied a troubled soul like he was. He could still hear the conversation from here.</p><p>“Look, Dad, I know his mother embarrassed you on the phone, and I’m sorry for letting it h-happen… Stop calling me ‘ungrateful’, Dad, please…!”</p><p>Even Sunny winced a little at that.</p><p>Maybe Sunny could’ve looked behind him, however, as Elliot’s gang, consisting of two able-bodied brutes from his school named Jackson and Seamus, were right behind him, as they shoved him clean to the ground near where Elliot was. Elliot, seeing a potential opportunity to redeem himself in his father’s eyes, while also fuming and embarrassed that Sunny would dare to listen in on him at his most vulnerable. In a tone of voice that almost mirrored his father’s threatening low roar, it was enough for Sunny’s hairs on his neck to stand straight up. “<em>Didn’t your sister ever tell you it was rude to eavesdrop, Sunny?</em>”</p><p>With one harsh grip, Sunny was raised up and placed up against the wall hardly. “You’re gonna regret ever seeing my face after what you and your bitch of a mother did to me and my father.” Gone was the slyer, playboy bullying that Sunny was used to, and here now was the voice of someone that was almost akin to a murderer. “I’ll make sure you see your sister nice and quickly, make it all <em>painless</em>.”</p><p>Before Sunny could even call for help, he was thrown swiftly to the snowy concrete, as Elliot placed one ice-cold boot on Sunny’s skull. It wasn’t enough to crack anything, but it was pressuring enough to hurt. Sunny could see only through the window, and who else was at the other end but Aubrey, utterly horrified at Sunny’s predicament. She ran to the side exit, most likely to get help, but before Sunny could even try to look, Elliot pressed a little harder. He just had to trust that Aubrey knew what she was doing.</p><p>“It seems like the BB gun wasn’t enough of a teacher. Well it’s a good thing I have the real deal, then.” Sunny could only get more stressed out, as he definitely heard the cocking of an actual pistol. This was no longer an intimidation tactic, Elliot was probably aiming to, at best, severely harm, or worse, kill him.</p><p>Sunny was STRESSED OUT. He was internally begging Aubrey to return with whatever was necessary at any moment. Off the corner of his eye again, he saw Aubrey come back with what he could only manage to see as five other shadows. Something about them was familiar, but he managed to see Aubrey with her signature metal bat on her hand. Help was most assuredly on the way.</p><p>“Say, Sunny, did I ever show you dad’s favorite gun?” Elliot snarled aggressively.</p><p>Sunny, this time, was ready. “Did I ever tell you about the pink demon?”</p><p>Before Elliot could even retort or question Sunny, Aubrey’s voice called him out, in an actually welcome return to her punk nature. “HEY! SKINHEAD!”</p><p>Elliot responded almost instantaneously to the insult, agitated that his threats were interrupted, but nonetheless played it off as charismatically as he could. “Hey there, babe. Shouldn’t you be in the kitchen making me and the boys sandwiches, sweetheart?”</p><p>His gang weakly chuckled at this, signifying that either they thought that was a weak comeback, or that they were unnerved of the direction Elliot was taking this whole event.</p><p>Aubrey sneered threateningly. “Oh, is that how you treat all your girlfriends?”</p><p>Elliot took personal insult to that remark, but tried to rebound as much as he could. “What, are you this infidel’s girlfriend or something?”</p><p>This might’ve been the one time Sunny was <em>glad</em> to be on the ground, as his blush was faced away from the two, but what came next shocked even him.</p><p>“Yeah, I am.” Aubrey muttered, genuinely.</p><p>And at that moment, Sunny’s heart skipped a beat. Did she mean that? Was she saying that just to ward off Elliot? Both?</p><p>Elliot chuckled standoffishly. “Oh yeah, you and what army, bitch?”</p><p>A distinctly deeper voice answered. “Our army.”</p><p>And it was then and there that those five other shadows emerged, and then it dawned on Sunny just who Aubrey had gotten the help of.</p><p>Kim. Vance. Angel. Charlene. Mikhael – err – the Maverick.</p><p>She brought the Hooligans.</p><p>Elliot realized how doomed he was, but his stubbornness would show immediately as he sent his lackeys on all of them, completely unaware of how he had absentmindedly released Sunny from under his boot.</p><p>Vance made short work of Jackson, smashing one big fist clean into his face as he dragged the rest of them further away from the restaurant, not wanting to cause much of a ruckus for everyone else.</p><p>Kim and Angel completely decimated Seamus with a kick to the gut, who kept trying to take a swing at them, but found himself missing every blow, leaving him wide open for a hit from Aubrey’s bat. The nails may have been removed, but make no mistake, it still hurt like hell. As such a blow left him flying down into the snow, his nose bleeding rather heavily.</p><p>Mikhael swooped in from behind Jackson just as he was trying to land a blow on Charlene, dropping him down into the snow. Charlene followed suit by one hard uppercut to the jaw when he tried to get back up.</p><p>Elliot proved quite the tough one to take down, but by some miracle, Aubrey hit Elliot’s gun so hard with the bat that it snapped in two, the exit of the gun flying far into the trees. Before Elliot could respond, he was met face-first with Aubrey’s bat, and a slight cracking sound came from Elliot’s nose. She broke Elliot’s nose with that bat.</p><p>Sunny made a mental note as he lied back against the wall of the restaurant to not ever come near Aubrey’s bat. That thing was deadly even without the nails.</p><p>Having been beaten so badly by the Hooligans and outright humiliated, he weakly tossed the butt of the gun towards them all in a defeated rage as he, Seamus, and Jackson ran off. Aubrey shouted in his direction. “Next time, take the <em>fucking</em> hint! Because I won’t go so easy on you if you <em>ever</em> come near him again!”</p><p>After that curb-stomping from Aubrey that Elliot got, Aubrey ran right over to Sunny, and hugged him tightly. “Oh my God, Sunny… I’m so sorry! I should’ve been quicker!”</p><p>“N-No, Aubrey, it’s okay! I’m fine, really!” Sunny tried to reassure her as he wrapped his arms around her.</p><p>“It’s not okay, Sunny! He had a gun on you! If I was a second slower, I…” She hugged him even tighter, tears trickling down her face. “<em>I don’t want to lose you too! I already lost Mari, I don’t want to lose you! Not again!</em>”</p><p>The words coming out of her mouth left him speechless, but much as he wanted to bring himself down about him being the impetus for Mari being gone, he knew it was best to comfort her instead. He gently patted her on the back reassuringly, the roles from last night reversed.</p><p>After a few minutes of cooling down and thanking the Hooligans, who then went into the pizzeria themselves, Sunny and Aubrey smiled at each other, and began to laugh a little.</p><p>The way home was met with Sunny congratulating her like an action movie star, all while Aubrey giggled at his excitement. “I mean, you were incredible! That was the most terrified I ever saw Elliot in my life!”</p><p>“Hehe, what can I say, I’m a nightmare with that bat! Like I told you, one swing of this, and they all go running!” She smirked triumphantly, holding her bat against her shoulder victoriously. “Guess that makes me suited to be your bodyguard after all, huh?”</p><p>Sunny smirked back. “Yeah, honestly, you passed the qualifications. And then some.”</p><p>“Hell yeah!” She pumped her fist, before giving Sunny a high five much like Kel’s.</p><p>After they did so, it only took a minute for snow to start raining down majestically. It looked clean out of a romantic comedy, with the lights of the nearby houses glowing softly amidst the cold breeze. Near one particular tree where Sunny and Aubrey stopped, a piano was being played inside a house a few blocks down, with the window open as the snow got caught on the windowsill. It felt very romantic and perfect, which Sunny took advantage of, leading a hand out in an offer to dance.</p><p>Aubrey accepted after a moment of piecing together his request, smiling back at him as the two of them danced gently in the snow.</p><p>The two of them felt like naturals at it, gazing into each other’s eyes as Sunny spun Aubrey around on the tips of their hands, leaving traces in the snow as her coat spun gracefully like a dress. They locked hands, sidestepping as the music began to progress to a more beautiful tune in the song, a melody that fully resembled love and beauty, and it was everything Aubrey was to Sunny.</p><p>A violin started to join in from inside the house in the midst of the song as the two pirouetted underneath the tree that shone so gorgeously with Christmas lights. Her hair and her eyes bore the brunt of the beauty of the lights, and Sunny was mesmerized. Everything about her was just perfect. Ever since they were kids, he loved every second with her. From the raincoat she wore in the rain on their way from school. From the moment the two shared together on the swing set. From Sunny’s very first Christmas with their friends. Even the time they spent together at Basil’s when everything was going so very wrong was enough for Sunny to enjoy.</p><p>The words were finally nearing escape from his lips, but before that, he finished the dance with Aubrey as he carried her on her waist with his hand, the other hand holding hers softly as the two had their eyes locked on to each other. He rose her up to stand as they both looked up at the tree, and what else did they see but mistletoe.</p><p>Sunny spoke first, after noticing both of their faces were flushed beyond belief. If there was any moment to finally say it, it was now when the moment was gift-wrapped for him.</p><p>“Aubrey, there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you.”</p><p>Aubrey listened close wordlessly, nodding to Sunny’s request. Her entire cheeks were as rosy as the ornaments on Kel’s Christmas tree.</p><p>“Ever since we were kids, I have always felt happy with you. I loved almost every second I got to spend with you, and I know I’m the worst at speaking my emotions or just being more vocal in general, but I truly mean that. And when everything went wrong, when I felt like I was at my lowest low, it was your words that stuck with me the most. We were a family, and we would stick together, because it’s what families would do.”</p><p>“Oh, Sunny…”</p><p>“And with every fiber in my body, I knew that no matter how big or small my efforts may be to forgive myself of what I did to us all, I would do my best every day to put my best step forward. Not just for the group as a whole… but for you.”</p><p>Aubrey felt tears begin to well in her eyes.</p><p>“Aubrey, I guess what I’m trying to say is… I love you.”</p><p>And that was when there was silence between the two. Aubrey felt her face going beet red from the revelation. A mixture of emotions all at once were flying in her mind. Surprise. Shock. Astonishment. But then, it all made too much sense. Why else would they both be so happy around each other’s presence? Why else would Sunny have been so open with her these past few days, much less more so than he’s ever been before since they were children?</p><p>She remembered the feeling she felt when she herself was in Sunny’s exact shoes, in this exact same thought process. And honestly, she’d be remiss if she didn’t admit that she truly did still love him after all this time. Aubrey finally spoke back, the happiest smile on her face in years stretching wide against her cheeks as tears strewn down them.</p><p>“Then shut up and kiss me already, you dork.” She giggled blissfully.</p><p>Sunny did just that, locking his lips with hers as they kissed underneath the glowing tree as the song nearby reached its last few notes. One of bliss, satisfaction, and triumph as the two lovers finally tied the knot. The red string binding them together as Sunny felt a massive weight taken off his shoulders.</p><p>Sunny was no longer alone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And with that, we have finally reached the big moment! This took quite some time to write because I wanted to make sure every bit was perfect! I even made sure I stayed up a bit just to get it done tonight! And hopefully, it all paid off! &lt;3</p><p>but yeah now time for me to collapse in my bed and either squee at what i wrote or pass out and sleep poggggggggggggggggggggggg</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Intimacy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny finds the courage to speak about his woes, but is reminded about what is most important to him in the now.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the happiest moment of Sunny’s life. Those few minutes were some of the most beautiful of his entire life. He and Aubrey kissed for what felt like an eternity, when it was really all but a solid ten minutes.</p><p>Once the two finally stopped, they stared at each other while giggling lovingly at each other, still in a high from the delight of their kiss. All while they held each other’s hands.</p><p>“By the way, Sunny, you’re an amazing kisser.” Aubrey giggled, as the two continued on their way to Kel’s house.</p><p>If Sunny’s face could get any redder, it did right then and there. He smirked back at her, much more confidently. “Just because we’re boyfriend/girlfriend now, doesn’t mean you get to tease me at every waking second.”</p><p>Aubrey laughed back, holding sweetly onto Sunny’s hand. “Of course it does!”</p><p>Sunny tried hiding his blushing in his scarf, only for Aubrey to tug it down a little. “Aww, c’mooooooooon, lemme see your cute face!”</p><p>Sunny tried to hide his face as much as he could, which only made Aubrey try harder to fluster him. “You’re just sooooo adorable! Where was this cute side of you years back because I love it!”</p><p>“Ahh, now that’s just nuclear warfare!” Sunny flustered, continuing to try and hide his face.</p><p>Aubrey giggled cutely, her childish side having finally been reawakened. <em>God, she’s so adorable.</em>, Sunny thought to himself.</p><p>The two of them would continue to fluster and tease the other on the way back to Kel’s place. It was the happiest the two of them have been in years. The two were nudging each other playfully on the snowed walkways, as Aubrey would then wrap her arms embracingly around Sunny’s free arm. Seems she adjusted rather quickly to the relationship upgrade. Not that Sunny minded all too much.</p><p>The pair finally reached Kel’s place, as Aubrey placed one more peck on Sunny’s cheek. It was apparent at that moment that, whatever doubts Sunny may have had about her reciprocating his feelings for her were all for naught, as not only did she seem to reciprocate, his confession seems to have provided some much-needed release for her as if she had held back those feelings for years.</p><p>“I love you.” She whispered to him, as if she knew he needed to hear those words for a very long time.</p><p>“I love you too.” Sunny whispered back, gently kissing her forehead.</p><p>The two opened the door and got out of their winter gear. Only to be bombarded by a hug from Basil. “Sunny! Aubrey! Thank goodness you’re alright!”</p><p>“B-Basil, what do you mean…?” Sunny muttered back in surprise. What could’ve possibly happened to elicit this response out of him?</p><p>“We heard about what happened at Gino’s. We heard Elliot’s truck pass on by the neighborhood, screaming about something related to you two. He… d-didn’t seem too particularly happy, to put it lightly.” Basil stuttered as Kel and Hero came in close, obviously just as wracked with worry.</p><p>Aubrey snidely commented back. “Yeah, so we beat that asshole’s head in, so what? Now he’ll think twice before hurting Sunny again.”</p><p>Hero nervously chuckled, but not before reigning back in a more serious expression. “Look, what exactly happened?”</p><p>Aubrey was about to comment, but Sunny put his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll take it from here.” Aubrey nodded, but was a little worried for her new boyfriend. “While I waited for Aubrey outside the restaurant after we were done, I caught notice of Elliot off the corner of the restaurant. He seemed distressed, as if someone was screaming at him over the phone. But when he knew I was peering in, he shoved me to the ground and tried to shoot me with a real gun this time. His dad’s gun, from the looks of it. Aubrey noticed it and got help from Kim and the others before he could fire the gun at me. He had his boot on my face too, restraining me to the ground before Aubrey came back with backup. We scared them off, but I think he’s taking it bad from the looks of things, if what you’re saying is true.”</p><p>The group were rightfully worried, especially with the reveal of an actual firearm being pointed clean at Sunny. There was no pretense of sarcasm in Elliot’s confrontation. He would’ve killed Sunny potentially if he had just a sliver of a chance. All for a petty grudge? Who could really say?</p><p>Hero broke the worried silence. “Sunny, I think it’d be best if you take it easy for the next few days if that’s the case. Knowing how horrible Elliot is, I wouldn’t put it past him to try something else that’s foolish if he lays eyes on you or Aubrey.” He turned to Aubrey gently, not in a move of anger or disappointment, but plain worry and anxiety, now knowing that one of his closest friends, and his late girlfriend’s brother, no less, was put in such grave danger. “Aubrey, I know you’re one to lash out at others who wrong you, and I won’t say you weren’t justified in what you did, but I think next time, maybe get help from adults instead of throwing yourself and other teenagers at what was basically a crazed gunman. Had it been a second too late…” He visibly grimaced, knowing what happened the last time he felt like he could’ve saved someone closest to him, even if he now knew that one wasn’t his fault. But then, he looked back at her, a seeming fringe of anger resonating in his voice at what felt aimed at Elliot. “…<em>Just tell me you got him</em>.”</p><p>The group all stared at Hero and what he had just said, equal parts perplexed and amazed by how over the course of Elliot’s brief appearances, Hero’s calm, pacifistic, and gentle persona seems to have been rattled over time. Hero noticed. “…What? I know when being a reasonable authority figure doesn’t always work.”</p><p>They all looked back at Sunny, even Aubrey. “We just want to know if you’re okay.”</p><p>Sunny lowered his head reflectively, feeling deep within his subconscious that this won’t be the last of Elliot, and how him getting beaten so embarrassingly was going to have consequences for the future. “I know I scared all of you multiple times in the past with things that have been going on in my life, and I know this is just another one in a line of bad things to happen to me, on a holiday such as this, no less. I never expected nor wanted any of this to happen, and… I’m sorry. I’ve worried all of you half to death a multitude of times… I just have a lot of problems that are probably dragging all of you down with me, and I don’t know if I can take them on.”</p><p>They all huddled in close around Sunny, Aubrey the closest. “Sunny… I know what you did to Mari is eating away at you on the inside, I can see it. But please understand, we worry because we love you. Had you two not shown up a second sooner, we would’ve been getting our coats on, looking for you. So please, don’t harp on yourself so much over things like this.”</p><p>Kel rang in. “It’s like when I got you out of that house before you moved away. Underneath all the pain you’ve put up with, you’re still our Sunny!”</p><p>“If it weren’t for you checking in on me that night… well… I wouldn’t be here to see your face again after all this time.” Basil replied, not a trace of his anxiety ringing in every word.</p><p>Aubrey draped her hands on Sunny’s cheeks lovingly. “We all have our demons to face, Sunny. And sometimes, the hardest part of every fight is just mustering the courage to stand up and start it. But don’t think for a second you’re alone in this fight, okay? We’ve all got your back.” She gently kissed Sunny on the nose, pretty much confirming it to the rest of the gang that they tied the knot.</p><p>“And if Elliot thinks he can lay a hand on you again, we’ll be ready for him.” Kel boasted, giving Sunny a small thumbs up like an anime protagonist.</p><p>Aubrey smirked. “For once, Kel’s right.”</p><p>The two didn’t have it in them to bicker that remark this time. They knew what was more important. The gang all hugged Sunny, who hugged them right back.</p><p>“Look at us, Knights of the damn Round Table over here.” Aubrey giggled as they all hugged Sunny comfortingly.</p><p>“Does this mean I get to be Lancelot?” Kel snarked teasingly.</p><p>“You know, given that I’m the big guy around here, let him have that part. I’ll take Gawain’s role. I feel he suits me.” Hero chuckled.</p><p>Basil joined in next. “Then I call Percival!”</p><p>They all giggled and laughed at how they were acting. A nice little cheer-up session from the fear that previously permeated throughout the room. Aubrey leaned in, and gave Sunny’s nose a nice, cute, little boop. “Sunny here, he’s our King Arthur, isn’t that right, King?” She giggled, smooching him clean on the cheek.</p><p>Sunny blushed and smiled wider. “Well, what’s a king without a queen, right?” He smirked back at Aubrey.</p><p>“Smooth, I like that.” She flung back at him, the two locking lips once again.</p><p>The gang all hit the hay shortly after, all while Sunny and Aubrey once again shared the bed. Aubrey continued to lavish his face in kisses and affection, making sure not a single part of his face was left unattended from her lips. Their night clothes pressed against one another as Aubrey lied herself on top of Sunny, who just laid under her in complete and utter bliss. With every single peck of her lips came another bang of Sunny’s hair being brushed aside, making more room for Aubrey’s loving care.</p><p>“You are the wind beneath my wings.” A kiss on the nose followed. “My precious little Sunny-bun.” A kiss on the right cheek. “A blessing on this earth and nothing can change that.” One longer kiss placed itself on his forehead. “My special little angel who I’ll protect at all costs.”</p><p>Sunny’s face was as red as roses. He’d squeak in utter delight if he could, he could feel one just bellowing inside his chest. He was immobilized by how much love she was giving him. “I-I… <em>Wow</em>…” was all Sunny could muster, completely breathless before her.</p><p>And then she smiled. The smile that would pierce stone and ground it to dust. The smile that would melt even the sturdiest of ice and steel. The smile that felt like it came from the lips of a divine figure. Their foreheads touched softly as they were gazing deep into each other’s eyes, as if the two of them were utterly hypnotized by each other. All he could see was her, and he would have nothing other than that.</p><p>They locked their lips once again, the tips of their noses pressing slightly from how intimate the two of them were in terms of space. The softness of the bed comforters were just adding to the romantic ecstasy, feeling so utterly enchanting as the two of them kept kissing each other. Aubrey’s arms hugged Sunny’s neck while her hands soothingly rested against the pillows, as Sunny’s went to her waist. In the distance, they could hear soft guitar strings being strung amidst characters talking in a car from Hero’s room, seems like there was another movie on. He could vaguely hear a distinctly male voice mutter the words “I’m the protagonist” as the music led a crescendo to a fade-to-black. But it didn’t matter.</p><p>Sunny felt the heat within his body simmer to overdrive. He felt like he would explode from the close contact alone, and in his mind, he swore he could’ve heard fireworks going off in swift succession. He could see glints of sparkles surrounding Aubrey, most likely from how infatuated he was with her. Everything about her was just perfect. How smooth her hair felt against his shoulders exposed from the tank top. Her lips curved into the most pearlescent of smirks that radiated throughout his skin, cleansing away any bad thought or ideation that circulated in his brain like the parting of the sea. He wanted to feel her lips on his as many times as necessary, even if it took the whole night.</p><p>Sunny took the initiative, spooning her waist and sliding his hands up her back, her back feeling just smooth as silver to his fingertips. He’d be lying if he didn’t admit that he was new to this level of intimacy, much so in his entire life, but it seems like Aubrey was doing a great job of guiding him. Their noses would nuzzle against one another’s as Sunny’s lips made acquaintance yet again with Aubrey’s light lavender lips. God, it felt so good. If it weren’t for the fact of needing to breathe, Sunny could’ve kissed her for hours and hours on end. Aubrey would’ve most likely had the same idea.</p><p>“I love you…” Aubrey gasped as the lip-locking continued on further, like a ticking clock. “I love you, I love you, I love you…”</p><p>Sunny’s smile could only get so wide, but he knew what to do. He leaned in and left a long kiss clean on Aubrey’s forehead. Her hair hugged his own as Sunny finally broke the kiss.</p><p>The two giggled cutely at each other as Aubrey laid her head against Sunny’s chest. A smirk of smug charisma on Sunny’s face emboldened itself as he spoke. “Well of course you do… I’m the protagonist.” He smirked, knowingly and cheekily ripping off the line from the movie in the other room.</p><p>Aubrey chuckled again in mock disgust. “You totally stole that.”</p><p>“Eh, who would know if I did?” Sunny smirked, to which Aubrey responded by weakly slapping Sunny’s chest.</p><p>“Try that again and I’ll slap harder, you dork.” She smirked back. Seems like she still had her sass, not that Sunny had anything wrong with it.</p><p>“Meh, you’re no fun.” Sunny playfully remarked.</p><p>Aubrey giggled back, continuing to kiss the black-haired boy on her bed, as he kissed her back.</p><p>The two would seemingly go at it for hours if they could.</p><p>Not that they would mind it, if they could help it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Zenith</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny meets his demon once more, and finally gets to see what's happened to the world within dreams.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone! I apologize if the length of the past few chapters (including this one) has been pretty small over the course of time. College work and trying to find inspiration has kinda wreaked havoc on my productivity, but I will be sure that at least the small chapters favor quality over quantity. I'm saving my best for the finale, of course. :3c</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The air glistened with the sounds of birds, blanketing itself amidst what was a kaleidoscopic sky, filled with chalk outlines of planets, beds, and satellites all surrounding a cream-cheese colored moon. The familiarity of the locale was all too familiar to Sunny, who had woken himself amongst the grass. It was all too clear and recognizable as to where he was.</p><p>He was in Headspace, but something about it was so horribly wrong.</p><p>Cracking out of the ground was a black mist that felt almost strangulating in its chill, as if Sunny was in outer space without a space helmet. It swayed in the wind like hair, and there were far too many of it to count. Sunny rose from the ground, not wishing to be surrounded by it for a second more.</p><p>In the previous instances of his time in Headspace, he would’ve usually heard the sounds of Kel, Basil, Aubrey, Hero… Mari… all within the playground, happily up and about with the other kids and creatures his odd mind could’ve conjured up. But it was nowhere to be heard. And one glance up near the trees made it all too clear what was going on.</p><p>Sweetheart’s Castle was completely destroyed, the wreckage hanging precariously in the air like a marionette, the same story for Last Resort, Otherworld, the Junkyard, the Orange Oasis… everything in Headspace looked completely ravaged and near-borderline unrecognizable. But what felt worse was when Black Space started rearing its head into the mix, as he could distinctly see the Mirror Area, the Pain Area, the Town Area, pretty much all of Black Space was present and accounted for intersecting itself amidst the floating remains of all of Headspace.</p><p>As Sunny cautiously moved through the pathway of the forest, he could hear and see visages of himself, vines pored through the doppelgangers’ skin like a knife through paper, as they welched in ceaseless anguish.</p><p>“Help… me…” was all they could whisper in vain, trying to reach out their hands to Sunny, who just kept walking further down, paying them no mind.</p><p>He reached an entire grassland filled with white egret orchids upon passing through a fog gate covering the entire exit to the forest. As he passed through, he saw Omori sitting there, gazing as he grasped a flower plucked from the ground and twirled it around gently, as the color shifted slowly from white to black. The petals flew off in the wind as the entirety of the flowers on Omori’s side of the hill started to adopt that blackish color. Only Sunny’s side showed any semblance of whiteness left.</p><p>Omori rose from the field, staring Sunny down with a glance that expressed both seething resentment, and almost a rejected, desperate longing.</p><p>Sunny gazed right back at his other self, a small smirk on his face in victory. “Well, how about that, Omori? Looks like your words about Aubrey meant jack shit, who would’ve thought?”</p><p>Omori just stared back at him, as per usual.</p><p>Sunny smirked a little longer. “Give up, Omori. You’re not having me. Not now and not in the hell you crawled out of.”</p><p>Omori said nothing, and turned towards the sky, gazing at the demolished worlds hovering above them. “<strong>Look above you, Sunny. Look at what you’ve done to the world we made. It was beautiful</strong><strong>…</strong><strong> and you destroyed it.</strong>”</p><p>Sunny gazed once more towards the sky, seeing the remnants of his escapist fantasy suspended in air and completely demolished. Even he had to admit, it was a little sad to see Headspace crumble at the seams after he had worked so hard to keep it afloat months ago. But he knew better, it was all one big lie.</p><p>“No. It’s the world <em>you</em> made. To keep me away from reality. To keep me from peace.”</p><p>“<strong>Once again, you perceive me the villain in a story you yourself wrote. If it weren’t for what you did, I wouldn’t even be here assumedly causing you this much apparent pain. I have bent over for you at times that most would give up on, and yet, you have the nerve to turn your back on me, just like what you do with everyone else you love that doesn’t meet your expectations. All you know is to destroy the things closest to you, and now you’ll destroy me next. Is this what you want, Sunny?</strong>” Omori spoke piercingly, his thousand-yard stare throwing daggers clean into Sunny’s heart.</p><p>For once, Sunny couldn’t respond back. He knew he was in the right to let the past go and move on, and now here the past comes, tearing him down.</p><p>“<strong>You’re awful. You’d abandon the world we created, for your safety, all for a fleeting chance at happiness that’ll fade away in time. And so it’s come to this. If I can’t have you</strong><strong>…</strong>”</p><p>Omori unsheathed his trademark knife, glaring Sunny down with any sort of feeling being desecrated in his heart.</p><p>“<strong>…</strong><strong><em>then no one can</em></strong><strong>.</strong>”</p><p>In lightning-fast speed, Omori ran towards Sunny, to which he grasped onto his assailant’s hands, terrified but still focused enough to throw Omori off of him, sending the knife flying off in the distance.</p><p>Omori growled in rage, laying two punches in to Sunny’s face as he kept trying to retaliate. Omori was just growing too fast, as the flowers amidst their fight constantly changed colors in the increasingly violent winds. Nearing their positions were what looked like storm clouds.</p><p>Sunny got back up, spitting stray semblances of blood from his mouth as he cocked his fists like a gun. He dodged Omori’s swings of his fists and landed an uppercut against Omori’s stomach, sending him pummeling towards the forest trees.</p><p>Amidst the dust of the crash, a murderous glare gazed back at Sunny. Omori was FURIOUS, as he leapt back at Sunny like a rocket, launching the two of them up in the sky as the coming storm encircles them. Lightning loomed over them like an angler fish to its prey, as Sunny kicked Omori off of him, sending him flying right through the ruins of Sweetheart’s castle, as Sunny began to descend from the sky. The crash was loud enough to send shockwaves in the sky.</p><p>Perhaps due to the fight being a dream, Sunny was able to land perfectly on his feet with only a minor hitch in positioning. But charging right back at him was Omori, his teeth bared like a vicious lion as he glared Sunny down, landing perfectly on the ground and sucker-punching him in the stomach, then giving him a throat chop, before finishing it off by performing a spinning throw, sending Sunny crashing through multiple trees. Sunny tried to stop himself by trekking his toes against the ground, but all it was doing was cleaving right through the terrain, until another crash knocked him into the playground.</p><p>Sunny was battered, still having strength to fight, as Omori reentered the battlefield, now having the knife in his hand once again, lackadaisically brushing aside his bangs.</p><p>Sunny saw the tetherball pole and ran for it, pulling it back hard enough and shoving it with enough force to bash Omori in the cheek. He did it again, keeping Omori on his toes. But when Omori had enough, he caught the tetherball with a single hand, and cut the cord with a swipe of the knife. He stared Sunny down viciously once more.</p><p>“<strong>Everything I ever did, I did for you and her! All I ever did was protect you from the torment the real world would give you, and you repay me with the same betrayal you did to Mari! Tell me how proud you are, Sunny! Tell me how proud you are to run AWAY!</strong>”</p><p>Omori struck Sunny down with one left hook to his jaw, the blood from that strike splatting on the dirt.</p><p>“<strong>TELL ME, SUNNY! TELL ME HOW YOU FEEL!</strong>”</p><p>Omori kicked Sunny down again to the ground, leaving Sunny breathless as he weakly trembled on the ground.</p><p>“<strong>TELL ME HOW IT FEELS TO LEAVE EVERYTHING BEHIND FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR WORTHLESS HAPPINESS, WHEN ALL YOU EVER DO IS HURT EVERYONE YOU LOVE!</strong>”</p><p>One hard, final kick leaves Sunny wheezing and panting in agony on the ground as the ground crackles behind him, seemingly on Omori’s whim as the false child gazes down upon Sunny, who only stared at the ground in pained defeat.</p><p>“I… I never wanted any of this… I never wanted to live like this, Omori… All I wanted was to feel close to Mari again after what I did to her… But… <em>this</em>… This isn’t what I wanted, Omori… It never was… I-I’m sorry…”</p><p>Omori gazed upon Sunny as if he had been struck in the face. Everything Omori knew was keeping Sunny safe from the harmful, horrible truth. To hear that Sunny never meant for any of this… it was another betrayal. All Omori knew was a lie. Sunny… used him. To <em>hide</em>. Omori’s fist clenched as he kicked Sunny up through the jaw, knocking him on his back, just hanging near the edge of the sudden cliff as all the world of Headspace drained of all of its color, leaving them in a dark expanse of eyes as Omori gazed upon Sunny’s face.</p><p>“<strong><em>Then allow me to reacquaint you with how it feels to die.</em></strong>” Omori growled furiously, as he stabbed Sunny in the chest with the knife and shoved him down the chasm with his foot. “<strong><em>The dream</em></strong><strong><em>…</em></strong><strong><em> is mine.</em></strong>”</p><p>Sunny felt his lifeless body fall into the abyss as he heard every semblance of the dream worlds crumble into nothingness from the distance, as Black Space now completely awoke from the ground. Omori now had control of the dreamscape. He had won. He would haunt Sunny much as he wanted to, and whatever plan Omori had left to enact, he would be left completely unopposed.</p><p>Sunny felt a cold jaw of Something swallow him whole, and his eyes awoke in a scare to find himself back in Aubrey’s room, completely encased in her loving arms until he jolted awake in fear.</p><p>He checked the clock. December 23<sup>rd</sup>, 1:34 AM.</p><p>Aubrey awoke as she heard and felt Sunny wake from his nightmare, as his body felt visibly tense and shaking. He felt out of breath.</p><p>“Sunny, is everything alright?” Aubrey muttered, tired but still concerned for her boyfriend.</p><p>He felt himself calm down a little at her voice, but he still felt like his nerves were enflamed. Much as he wanted to downplay it, he had to be honest. “Had another nightmare. Sorry, Aubs.”</p><p>She wrapped her arms around Sunny comfortingly, smooching his cheek. “Awww, it’s okay… I’m here, nothing’s gonna hurt you…”</p><p>Sunny wasn’t really worried about that, he was just now worried about Omori now being in control of the dream world. He knew Omori seemed visibly distraught over the destruction of Headspace. He was a ruler of nothing now, but knowing Omori, he was bound to try something, <em>anything</em> to get what he wants. “You ever feel like your past loves to haunt you at every waking moment, Aubs…?”</p><p>Aubrey listened attentively, not quite understanding what he meant but nonetheless sympathizing.</p><p>“I’ve been… having these weird, terrible dreams. I don’t know what’s happening to me. I’m worried I’m losing bits and pieces of myself even with me taking steps in the right direction. I’m so afraid I’m going to repress back again into that worthless, emotionless husk from months back. It feels like this… demon from my past wants to loom its head right over me and I can’t seem to fight it off.”</p><p>Aubrey gave her boyfriend another loving kiss on the cheek. “I might not know what you were dreaming about, but I do know that, no matter what happens, we all love you, Sunny. I love you with all my heart. And if you see that thing in your dreams again… give him the old Aubrey one-two for me, okay?” She lovingly giggled, cradling her boyfriend’s arm.</p><p>Sunny smiled a little, making a mental note of that next time he’d fight Omori. But he knew that Omori was not gonna go down without a fight. And it was gonna take a lot more than pure wits to take him down.</p><p>“You must learn to forgive yourself, Sunny. It’s the only way.”</p><p>Sunny now knew what the Stranger meant before Omori killed him.</p><p>And now he was ready.</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Artistry</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny takes the time to do something special for the one he loves, and finds the tinges of peace start to reach his soul.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sunny laid awake in Aubrey’s room, while his girlfriend fell right back to sleep within an hour of cuddling and kisses being given. Much as he knew he had to get up, a part of him was content in his lover’s arms. But he knew he had to do something. Something for her.</p><p>He slithered himself out of her arms, all while giving her a small kiss on the head, and got himself cleaned up, all while everyone else was still asleep. The clock struck 3 AM, he was in perfect range to do this all without anyone noticing.</p><p>Sunny walked over to the garage, where they had all tucked away their Christmas gifts so no one would peek into them too early, and pulled his gift to Aubrey, the bunny-themed teen hoodie, out from under it. He lied it on the workbench on its front and pulled out some sewing equipment, next to his drawing essentials and a blank painting canvas, perfectly sized for the gift box. The back of the hoodie was a perfect blank piece for him to take advantage of, and Sunny got to work with some pink stitches against the grey cloth.</p><p>It took some fair amount of time, making sure every stitch went in the right place. He was able to get the name “Aubrey” on there without much of a hitch, but he knew he didn’t want to leave it there. It was a little too nondescript, he needed a little more feeling. That was when it clicked in Sunny’s head as he remembered the first time he saw Aubrey’s love for bunnies. He knew exactly how to fill the empty space.</p><p>Using a picture of Aubrey from the photo album he still had on him, he got to work on recreating Aubrey’s likeness on the hoodie. It probably took him a half-hour, making sure every bit and piece went perfectly into the back of the hoodie, especially when he knew it was gonna be hard to redo it, if at all, if he messed up somewhere. Luckily for him, the stitches went up amazingly into place, and Aubrey was impeccably recreated on the hoodie, holding Bunbun in her arms. But he was not done there. Right above the cross-stitch of Aubrey and her name, he switched out the pink stitches with white ones, not only as a means of making the text visible against the grey back, but also as an artistic way of showing how pure and perfect she was. Suddenly he missed being wrapped up in her arms.</p><p>Lining up the sewing equipment against the hoodie, he got to work on printing the right words he felt described her perfectly to a tee. He made sure the words still felt soft against the fleece of the hoodie, which it thankfully did.</p><p>Right around when he got to the last word, he checked the clock, just to see if he wasn’t losing time by the second. It read 4:27 AM. Good, he still had more than enough time to make this all work.</p><p>And in just about a few minutes’ time, he put in the last of the stitches. Putting away the sewing equipment, he took the hoodie out to examine how it looked, and even he had to admit, the handiwork he’s made on it was impressive. Not only in how perfectly he made Aubrey look, but then came the words he used.</p><p>“Our favorite cottontail – Aubrey”</p><p>It was so saccharine, so cheesy, so utterly tooth-rotting in its candy-like sweetness that it twisted right back around to beautiful. It was the quintessential Christmas gift. But he knew that was just the beginning. Lying the hoodie down near the gift box, he then slid the canvas and the art supplies on the board. He recalled the conversation with Aubrey during their date at Gino’s, and how he’d make Aubrey look in his next piece he promised her.</p><p>“I would most likely draw… you. Just you, amidst a field of gladioluses. As the wind flies through your hair while you smile towards the center of the image… I think it’d be a piece focusing on the beauty of a significant person in the life of someone, and how important they are to them. How much they mean to them. Your eyes would be glistening with the rays of the sunlight, all while a beautiful smile imparts on your cheeks. One of happiness, brevity, and freedom.”</p><p>Much as he would’ve loved to draw that idea… he figured painting it was better. His own Mona Lisa or Picasso if he would allow himself that moment of ego-boosting.</p><p>Sketching the line art was first on his list, as Sunny began to draw that idea he mentioned to her. Starting with Aubrey at the forefront of the picture, he traced softly against the canvas, emphasizing her soft, kindhearted nature that he knew her for. Her eyes were a little more pronounced, as he gave them little glints of sunlight shining against her pupils, the same eyes he fell in love with. In no time flat, the line art became easy come, easy serve. He managed to draw everything down to frame. Her clothes, the gladiolus-ridden background, the perfect blue sky, her hair flowing in the wind, her smile…</p><p>Yep, Sunny was already touch-starved. And he was already blushing like mad. Again.</p><p>What felt like a few hours of finishing the sketch and finally painting it to the best of his ability. The clock read 5 AM, and just like that, his masterpiece was finished. Both the hoodie and the painting. But even then, he wasn’t done just yet. He had to complete the trifecta.</p><p>Pulling a note card from the desk near him, he pulled out a pen, and began to write.</p><p>“Dear Aubrey, my beloved… This entire holiday has been nothing but surprises, hasn’t it? It feels like just yesterday when I was finally coming out of that house for the first time in four years. And I must say, a lot has changed in that amount of time. Some of it not so good, but some of it for the best. But to go on further would be to wax poetic again, and I’m sure you don’t want a college lecture for Christmas…”</p><p>Sunny chuckled a tiny bit at this self-deprecation. He was always a little tongue-in-cheek when his nerves weren’t freezing up at every point.</p><p>“…But that’s beside the point. Inside this gift box was everything I poured my love and soul into making this your best Christmas yet. But I know that these are just extra little penchants for what I consider the best gift I could’ve ever received this Christmas, and that’s you. You genuinely made this holiday the brightest it’s ever been in years for me, and I truly can’t begin to thank you enough. I adore you from the bottom of my heart, and I always have loved you ever since we were kids. When what happened to Mari happened, and I sheltered myself in fear and shame for it, I was afraid that everyone, including you, would fear me. Loathe me. Detest me for what I did. What I never meant to do. But now I know that I was wrong. You’ve shown me the most love and care that I haven’t felt since when she was around. You remind me of her, but in every good way I can imagine. I’m so happy to be yours, and I would never imagine anything else I’d rather be. I love you, Aubrey, and I hope this makes your Christmas just a little more lovely. Merry Christmas, Sunny.”</p><p>He had to wipe a tear from his eye as he tucked the card into the gift box, before rewrapping it and tucking it away back where it was originally. It wasn’t a tear of sadness or despair, however. The tear was out of love, and the feeling of finding happiness, by a certain definition of it. He checked the clock one last time, and it read 6:15 AM. He put away his art supplies and quietly closed the door behind him.</p><p>As he walked silently back up the stairs, he thought to himself about the words he wrote on that card, and how therapeutic it was for him in a way. He was able to let every feeling buried deep inside of him out for the first time in his life. Maybe this is what the Stranger meant, and all Sunny needed was a little push to make the steps happen.</p><p>He was on his way, he could feel it.</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Eve</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny spends the warmth of Christmas Eve with friends, as they all cherish the memories that bound them together.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The day before came and went, like leaves in the wind. Snow covered the entire city of Faraway as some stores have closed their doors for the holidays. Amidst Sunny sleeping comfortably in Aubrey’s arms once again, the two of them could even slightly hear carolers beginning to set the stage for their neighborhood singing. It was Christmas Eve.</p><p>Sunny was, once again, the first one to wake up, but this time around, Aubrey was not too far behind him. Yesterday didn’t have much going for it in terms of events, as it was more of the gang hanging out with each other and more love-making with him and Aubrey. But today, and most assuredly the day after, Sunny had the feeling this was gonna be the most eventful Christmas he would ever experience.</p><p>“Morning, Sunshine.” Aubrey muttered sleepily, draping her arms around Sunny’s shoulders as she kissed his cheek. “Merry Christmas.”</p><p>Sunny relaxed into her touch, and kissed her back. “Merry Christmas, Aubs.”</p><p>She giggled in adoration as she was kissed, nestling her head against Sunny’s left shoulder. The two of them laid still in each other’s presence for some time, their hair nuzzling each other gently. They were just in sheer paradise at the purest moment, the noises of the church bells ringing to the tune of the holidays as the carolers began to sing nearby. They were just so in love, together in harmonic bliss with each other, like two birds huddling close together.</p><p>The two could hear Hero open up their door, as he smiles wholesomely. To see Sunny in such a chipper state recently just warmed his heart. He knew Mari would be so proud.</p><p>“Merry Christmas, you two.” He spoke warmly, like honey.</p><p>“Merry Christmas, hero. Did you sleep well?” Sunny asked, while Aubrey looked at Hero from the comfort of Sunny’s shoulder.</p><p>Hero chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. “About the same as always. How about you two?”</p><p>Sunny gazed happily at Aubrey, the same back at him for Aubrey. “Never better.”</p><p>The gang got cleaned up and ate together at the kitchen. Hero had once again cooked up breakfast for everyone. Given the holiday today, the pancakes he made were added with chocolate chips and were even cut and shaped like Christmas trees. Kel went to town as usual, seemingly having a bottomless gullet, much to Aubrey’s chagrin. Everyone else just savored the sweetness.</p><p>Basil looked to Sunny and Aubrey. “Merry Christmas, by the way! I hope you two are enjoying it so far!”</p><p>Aubrey answered first, as Sunny was busy finishing the last of his pancakes. “So far, so good! Man, who’d guess that Hero was such a good cook?” She smirked in a snide “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” tone.</p><p>Hero looked humbled, yet embarrassed. “Aww, c’mon, I’m not as good as I used to be.”</p><p>Kel, after having hollowed out his plate in record time, chimed in. “You kidding? This is honestly better than mom’s cooking, and that’s already pretty good!”</p><p>Everyone just was in utter shock that he practically devoured what was allegedly his third plate.</p><p>“…What? Was it something I said?” He asked obliviously.</p><p>“Kel, buddy, at this rate, you’d devour my house if you were dealing with starvation.” Sunny replied, utterly spellbound at how much Kel would eat if given the opportunity.</p><p>“Oh, you know it!” Kel smirked.</p><p>“There are starving children out in the world right now, Kel. I’m sure you’d like to spare some for them at least.” Aubrey rolled her eyes, still clutching Sunny’s arm.</p><p>“Aubrey, why do you have to be the buzzkill?” Kel sighed defeatedly.</p><p>Once breakfast was done and the day continued to trek on by, with the gang even getting a surprise visit by those very same carolers, the group huddled around the living room. Sunny and Aubrey on the same couch, with Aubrey lying on Sunny’s stomach, Kel and Hero reading Captain Spaceboy comics to each other, all while Basil watched the latter two act out the exciting bits, with Hero as Spaceboy and Kel as the antagonist. Spaceboy seemed locked into a battle with an opponent wielding two swords, while Spaceboy had to adapt with using a laser sword of his very own, of which Kel and Hero acted out using toy foam swords. Confirmation that underneath their exteriors, they were geeks through and through.</p><p>“Die, monster! You don’t belong in this world!” Hero boasted, in a performance so poor only his charisma could save him.</p><p>Kel, however, hammed it up for all of its worth. “Oh ho, so is this the mighty Captain Spaceboy? The one’s who’s vanquished legions of my armies! Ha! You look like you don’t even want to be here!”</p><p>Sunny and Aubrey couldn’t stop giggling at the display, with Basil watching attentively, even if he too was giggling a little.</p><p>“Nonsense! I am Captain Spaceboy! Nothing fazes me! Now, prepare to die, demon!” Hero reenacted, swinging at Kel softly with the foam sword, who countered back with a weak jab at Hero.</p><p>“Have at you!” Kel did his hammiest evil laugh yet, while the two continued to duke it out with their toy swords.</p><p>The two of them went at it for about two minutes as Kel lied against the floor in defeat, to which Hero pointed his fake sword at Kel’s neck in jest. “Any final words, villain?”</p><p>Kel sneered playfully, before pointing up at the ceiling. “Oh, hey! There’s a spider up there!”, causing Hero to yelp fearfully, as Kel regained the upper hand, swatting away Hero’s toy sword and pointing his own up to Hero’s neck. “Ha! I win, Captain Spaceboy…” Kel couldn’t finish that last sentence before cracking up in laughter, as Hero started to crack up too, putting his hand right near Kel’s shoulder.</p><p>“You are the worst, using my own fear like that.” Hero laughed, as everyone joined in on the laughter, with Aubrey even clapping a little.</p><p>“Encore, encore!” She cheered mockingly, more so at Kel than for Hero. “Give these two an award!”</p><p>Basil had taken a photo of the display, to which Sunny mentally reminded himself of the new photo album he has saved for Basil’s Christmas present. “Oh, taking photos already, Basil?” Sunny asked.</p><p>“Yep! Always had it on me and was waiting for the perfect moment!” Sunny grinned, winking at Basil playfully, who smiled sweetly back. The two of them took the photo album and slid in Basil’s new photos, with everyone else gathering around to watch.</p><p>Basil propped out a couple of photos together that carried every memory of their holidays together so far. Aubrey and Sunny greeting each other when he first showed up to the house, Sunny showing off his art, Sunny cooking breakfast by himself unaware of everyone else behind him, the gang all huddled together in a group hug in the basement, to even now, with Aubrey kissing Sunny on the cheek plenty of times, to Kel and Hero playing with toy swords, and finally, them laughing it off when Kel cheated victory.</p><p>Once the final photo slipped right into its plastic frame, the gang all stared admirably at the photo album. Aubrey spoke first. “It’s beautiful, guys.”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s like a new chapter to the story.” Kel venerated, gazing sweetly at the photo album.</p><p>Basil spoke up a little. “D-Do you think she’d be happy? I-If she was here with us?”</p><p>Not many felt the need to respond to that, but Hero patted Basil on the back. “I know she will, Basil.”</p><p>Nighttime began to rear its head, as Hero laid the cookies and milk near the counter. They may all be teenagers that knew the truth about Christmas and its folk tales, but that didn’t stop either of them from at least taking part in it, even if they all guessed that Hero was the most likely candidate to have those delicacies, which made Kel slightly jealous.</p><p>As everyone went to bed, and Sunny and Aubrey cuddled around each other once more, Sunny stared at the ceiling in thought as the ambiance of the carolers singing throughout the neighborhood echoed through the window softly.</p><p>Sunny knew that he wasn’t out of the woods yet in terms of what he needed to deal with, and he couldn’t shake off the ominous feeling that something was going to happen to him in the coming days, especially now with Omori having took control over the dream world. What would any of that mean for him, only time would tell. But he knew that, for now, all he could do was exercise patience, and still cherish the warmth around those he loves.</p><p>As he wrapped his arms once more around Aubrey, who slept peacefully and adorably in his arms, he could faintly hear the carolers sing just a little bit more prominently, as they all beckoned Faraway a good night. For a moment, he felt as if Mari’s arms wrapped around him in return, in a gentle, sisterly embrace that he missed oh, so very much.</p><p>“Silent night, holy night<br/>All is calm and all is bright<br/>Round yon virgin, mother and child<br/>Holy infant, so tender and mild<br/>Sleep in heavenly peace, ooh<br/>Sleep, sleep in heaven, heavenly peace…”</p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny finally has his due moment with the girl he loves, and the one he fears.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing Sunny felt on that day was Kel waking Sunny up akin to an excited child to their parents on Christmas morning, if the sun starting to shine on his face wasn’t enough. Instantaneously, he knew it was Kel shaking him up. That kid had a mad grip.</p><p>“Wake up, Sunny! C’mon, wake up! It’s Christmas!”</p><p>Sunny’s eyes struggled to close after that, as he groggily woke himself up, Aubrey in tow. They were starting to look more and more like a married couple with every passing day. “Five more minutes, Kel, damn it…” Aubrey moans behind Sunny.</p><p>Kel smirked. “C’mooooooon! Get up!”</p><p>The two couldn’t say no to such earnest enthusiasm, and they both rose from the bed and went downstairs after him. Hero must’ve pulled out all the stops to get every present situated underneath the tree, because it looked livelier than ever with all of them in one place.</p><p>Speaking of which, there they all were, gathered around the Christmas tree as Basil took another photo of the bed headed Sunny and Aubrey.</p><p>“Merry Christmas, guys. Sleep well?” Hero asked, calmly yet with an aroma of child-like enthusiasm.</p><p>“About as well as I ever will.” Sunny chuckled sweetly as he and his girlfriend sat on the couch together. “So, whose up first?”</p><p>“Well, let’s get your gifts out of the way first, Sunny!” Kel smiles, bringing his few gifts over to Sunny, who took them candidly.</p><p>First gift up to bat as Sunny unwrapped it was a Pet Rock system, which Sunny had never gotten before. “It was the newest one they had in Hobbeez, now we can play more competitively together!”</p><p>Sunny smiled a little wider as he took the Pet Rock system and put it in his pocket. “Awww, thanks, Kel!” He and Kel hugged proudly.</p><p>Hero chimed in, handing Sunny his gift. “Go on, Sunny, take a look!” As Sunny unwrapped it to find really fashionable reading glasses. “I’m sorry that this isn’t as neat of a gift as Kel’s but I figured they’d be great for when you get to college and get swamped with a bunch of papers and the like.”</p><p>“Nah, don’t worry about it, Hero. I’m just happy you got me something!” Sunny smiled back, and tried them on, prompting a tiny squeal from Aubrey and a blush from Basil.</p><p>“How is it possible you keep getting cuter, Sunny-bun?” Aubrey questioned teasingly, peppering his cheek yet again with smooches. Basil chuckled sweetly. “She’s got a point, Sunny.”</p><p>“Et tu, Basil?” Sunny laughed amidst the blush on his face as his girlfriend giggled cutely.</p><p>“Oh, speaking of me!” Basil slid in his gift to Sunny, who unwrapped it to find a camera of his very own. “Teehee! Now I’m not the only photographer here!” He giggled sweetly.</p><p>Sunny smiled warmly, beckoning Basil in for a sweet little hug, one that Basil reciprocated, before beckoning to Aubrey. “Hehe, don’t let Aubrey feel left out, Sunny~”</p><p>“No, no, Basil, you’ve earned it, that was really sweet!” Aubrey laughed sweetly. “Besides, Basil, if you need Sunny to lend you some smooches every so often, he has my seal of approval!”</p><p>Basil and Sunny both blushed <em>hard</em> at that remark, all while Aubrey relished in teasing her boyfriend. “What, I know sharing means caring!”</p><p>Kel made a little “ahem” noise, trying to hold in his own little giggles. “Aubrey, I do believe it’s your turn?”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, asshat, I’m getting to it!” Aubrey snarked, as she carried over her gift to her boyfriend, but not without one more little smooch on his nose. “Merry Christmas, Sunshine.”</p><p>Sunny blushed again, as he opened the present to find a bat of his very own. And just to sweeten the deal, she spray-painted Sunny’s name on it. “Now you’re the pink demon’s sidekick! I can teach you the ways of ass-kicking as my little pupil!” She glared mischievously at Kel. “And he’ll be your target practice!”</p><p>“I get the feeling I’m the butt-monkey comic relief here.” Kel rubbed the back of his head in nervous laughter. Oh, he had no idea.</p><p>“Aubrey, that’s not fair to him…” Sunny sneered teasingly. “…He’s way too soft and squeezable! It’ll be like deflating a basketball!” He looked to Kel, a look emphasizing he was kidding.</p><p>“I take offense to that first remark, and dude, too soon…” Kel clutched his chest in mock betrayal.</p><p>“Then why were you suggesting you’d play basketball with him when I first moved into this house?” Aubrey stared him down, dumbfounded.</p><p>“It was a trial of enlightenment, Aubrey! Just because I don’t have a basketball that works anymore doesn’t mean we can’t imagine one!” Kel stopped himself after he said that, realizing how stupid that sounded. “…wait…”</p><p>They all laughed, all while Hero ruffled his hair playfully. Never had Kel been so proud to be the one dumbass in the room until that very moment.</p><p>Aubrey then remembered. “Oh, I got you another present!” She handed Sunny another gift.</p><p>“Aubrey, we were supposed to go one at a time! I just made that rule too!” Kel moaned, not wanting to reveal the fact that he spent all of his money on that Pet Rock system.</p><p>She proudly shoved the middle finger in his direction as Sunny unwrapped his gift, revealing a correctly-sized pair of ice skates. “These are for that little dance you started under the tree.” She kissed him on the forehead before he could respond. They looked perfect, a nicely-tailored auburn brown with well-cleaned ice blades. Sunny knew he had to save these for later.</p><p>Sunny then saw the gift for Aubrey lying right near the tree. He knew what he had to do next. “Oh, mind if I get a turn really quick?” Hero nodded, as Sunny went straight for Aubrey’s gift, handing it to her.</p><p>“Awww, Sunny, we all know <em>you’re</em> the best gift I could ask for!” Aubrey smiled sweetly.</p><p>“I know, but… open it up, I know you’ll love it!” Sunny beckoned excitedly, still having those cute reading glasses on.</p><p>Without hesitation, she unwrapped the present, seeing a carboard box. A small one, but just before Aubrey could open it…</p><p>“Oh, cool! It’s a box!” Kel remarked playfully, almost ruining the moment for a second. Basil elbowed Kel as best as he could for that remark. “<em>Ow!</em>”</p><p>She opened the box, and the first thing she came across was the grey bunny-themed hoodie. She gasped in adoration. “S-Sunny… Oh my god…”</p><p>“Turn it around, turned it into a little something of my own.” Sunny smiled.</p><p>She did so, and came face-to-face with the back of the hoodie. Sure enough, Sunny’s stitched-up words stayed intact on the back of it. Embroidered was the very same, “Our favorite cottontail – Aubrey.” Her face was about as red as Rudolph’s nose.</p><p>“Oh, but that’s not all, check what’s under the hoodie in the box.”</p><p>She did just that, looking to see the card before a bouquet of wrapping paper. Aubrey picked up the card, and read it aloud to herself.</p><p>“Dear Aubrey, my beloved… This entire holiday has been nothing but surprises, hasn’t it? It feels like just yesterday when I was finally coming out of that house for the first time in four years. And I must say, a lot has changed in that amount of time. Some of it not so good, but some of it for the best. But to go on further would be to wax poetic again, and I’m sure you don’t want a college lecture for Christmas…” She took a break for a second to let out a teary-eyed whimper of heart-warmed joy. “…But that’s beside the point. Inside this gift box was everything I poured my love and soul into making this your best Christmas yet. But I know that these are just extra little penchants for what I consider the best gift I could’ve ever received this Christmas, and that’s you. You genuinely made this holiday the brightest it’s ever been in years for me, and I truly can’t begin to thank you enough. I adore you from the bottom of my heart, and I always have loved you ever since we were kids. When what happened to Mari happened, and I sheltered myself in fear and shame for it, I was afraid that everyone, including you, would fear me. Loathe me. Detest me for what I did. What I never meant to do. But now I know that I was wrong. You’ve shown me the most love and care that I haven’t felt since when she was around. You remind me of her, but in every good way I can imagine. I’m so happy to be yours, and I would never imagine anything else I’d rather be. I love you, Aubrey, and I hope this makes your Christmas just a little more lovely. Merry Christmas, Sunny.”</p><p>The entire group were all moved at that reading, as Basil was smiling wide with tears streaming out of his eyes. But what came next floored everyone.</p><p>It was the most beautiful picture of Aubrey she had ever seen.</p><p>Her smile spread even further on her face, tears streaming in elated symphony, as she jumped onto Sunny in one big bear hug. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was all the comfort and joy she had been wanting for years, all the closeness she had been begging for, all in front of her all at once. She almost felt like she was dreaming. Sunny wrapped his arms around her as well, the two locked in a loving, romantic, cuddling embrace that moved the entire group, with Basil even snapping a photo of it himself.</p><p>The rest of the presents came in at record time, with all of the gang loving Sunny’s gifts for them and vice versa. Basil sounded giddy at the idea of having another photo album, and immediately got to work on putting more photos into it, all the while Kel elated over having a new basketball, and Hero placed the cookbook right near the kitchen, practically begging for use later that day, which come dinnertime, he did, making up a special Christmas dinner, which the gang all loved, commending Sunny for a great choice in a cookbook.</p><p>Near the end of the day, within their room, Aubrey tugged on Sunny’s shoulder, having ice skates in her hand. “Say, Sunshine, wanna maybe go ice skating with me?”</p><p>Sunny, seeing no better time to try out his new ice skates than now, reacted accordingly. “Oh, sure!”</p><p>In no time flat, the two got prepared for the cold weather and went out the door as soon as they let the gang know. It was another comforting walk with the girl he loved wrapped around his arm as the snow crunched under their feet. Heading to the lake near the hangout spot they used to go to for their picnic to see the lake completely frozen in ice, perfect for skating by themselves without prying eyes.</p><p>They sat along the pier, tying up their skates, when Aubrey caught a glimpse of Sunny staring up at the full moon. She definitely found his newfound happiness and reforged confidence, in spite of his still omnipresent aloofness and shy nature, irresistible. He looked truly at peace, for the first time in years. And if he wasn’t? Then he was well on his way there, making steps every day. She couldn’t be any prouder of him.</p><p>With her laces tied, she propped herself off the pier and started skating along the ice, as the moon gleamed welcomingly against the frozen lake. She laughed sweetly, in a tone that hasn’t seen the light of day in practical years. She was the most alive she has ever felt.</p><p>Sunny, smiling preciously at this, followed suit after her… but found himself straining to keep balance and grabbing onto the pier for support, causing Aubrey to giggle at her boyfriend’s struggles. “Need some help?”</p><p>“N-No, no, I’m fine…!” He replied, only to latch onto the pier after nearly slipping again. “…Okay, yeah, gonna need some help.”</p><p>Aubrey laughed again, skating herself and grabbing onto Sunny’s waist. “Take my hand and just try to balance, okay?” Aubrey smoothly muttered, totally not wanting an excuse to hold Sunny’s hand. It seemed like that vain thought worked, as Sunny snugly held Aubrey’s hands, as she pulled him up on his feet.</p><p>“Just think of it like walking or dancing. Nice and slowly now…” She said, holding onto Sunny perfectly as he did just that.</p><p>“U-Uh, okay…” He nervously muttered, anxiously trying her advice on the skates. A couple instances of being frightened here and there, but it was showing that he was getting it. The slipping started to slow down to almost nothing, as Sunny started to let go of her hands. “…! H-hey, I’m doing it!”</p><p>Aubrey clasped her hands together near her lips, giggling wondrously as Sunny started to skate correctly. “Hell yeah, Sunny! You’re doing it, sweetie! I’m so proud of you!”</p><p>Sunny started to stretch his arms wide, feeling the cold breeze on the peaks of his arms. “I’M THE KING OF THE WOOOOOOORLD!”</p><p>Aubrey skated up alongside him, as the two began to dance alongside the ice. From the distance, music could be heard from the kids in the distance as the two started to enjoy the moment, carolers once again starting to sing from the park’s center.</p><p>“Christmas time is here</p><p>Happiness and cheer</p><p>Fun for all that children call</p><p>Their favorite time of the year…”</p><p>Sunny gently latched onto Aubrey’s waist, leading her into a romantic axel, their bodies close together as they embraced each other, Aubrey seemingly closing her eyes for the moment, content and relaxed in her position.</p><p>“Snowflakes in the air</p><p>Carols everywhere</p><p>Olden times and ancient rhymes</p><p>Of love and dreams to share…”</p><p>The two of them then held hands once again, sliding along the ice just slowly as they stared into each other’s eyes.</p><p>“Sleigh bells in the air</p><p>Beauty everywhere</p><p>Yuletide by the fireside</p><p>And joyful memories there…”</p><p>Aubrey brought them both close together once again, as their lips locked underneath the iridescent Christmas moonlight. “I love you, Sunny.” Sunny responded in kind. “I love you too.”</p><p>“Christmas time is here</p><p>Families drawing near</p><p>Oh, that we could always see</p><p>Such spirit through the year…”</p><p>The two of them skated back and forth amidst the ice, as small samples of snow began to fall on their clothes, locked in a perpetual embrace as if encased with one another.</p><p>“Sleigh bells in the air</p><p>Beauty everywhere</p><p>Yuletide by the fireside</p><p>And joyful memories there…”</p><p>They drift on back to the snowy ground gently, still holding on softly to one another, not wanting to let go.</p><p>“Christmas time is here</p><p>Families drawing near</p><p>Oh, that we could always see</p><p>Such spirit through the year…”</p><p>They land comfortably on the snow, gazing towards the starlight above them as they cradled each other softly, completely unaware towards the footsteps that were approaching them. But when they started getting louder, Sunny started to hear it from the distance, recognizing it only barely.</p><p>He rose from the snow, Aubrey alongside him, before he heard a scream of Aubrey being muffled, to which Sunny came to find Elliot, sporting a deranged and petrifyingly murderous gaze towards Sunny while Seamus and Jackson held her down so she couldn’t fight back, Elliot holding a military pocketknife to her throat.</p><p>“Miss me, Sunny?” He growled ferally, as Seamus let go of Aubrey and instead grabbed onto Sunny by the waist in a vice-like grip. Sunny caught a glimpse at Seamus, seeing… remorse in his eyes, as if he didn’t want to do this, but was almost terrified of Elliot at this rate. He looked to Jackson, who almost had the exact same look. Then he looked back at Elliot, whose eyes seemed to be showing the starts of bags, almost bloodshot to an extent. “Bind the bitch’s arms up.”</p><p>Jackson carried her, almost reluctantly, to the nearby tree, and Elliot looked to Sunny. “Same for him too. Bind his arms.”</p><p>Aubrey was forced to watch, much as she struggled against having her hands tied to the tree, as Sunny hand his hands knotted together in rope by Seamus. He could see it in Seamus’ eyes, the look of reluctance and guilt at what they were doing. Once that was over, they laid him against the pier of the lake, as Elliot put his foot right on Sunny’s chest.</p><p>“You took away so much from me, Sunny… The respect, the power that I had… I miss it all dearly. You humiliated me. And not only that, but your <em>whore</em> of a girlfriend here broke my daddy’s gun…” He pointed the knife’s edge to Aubrey’s neck, the tip just barely touching by a centimeter as she felt her breath become panicked. “You wanna know how much that gun costed my dad, huh?”</p><p>He beat against his chest madly, almost like how an ape would assert its strength. “MY FUCKING MONEY!” He howled ravingly.</p><p>Sunny had never seen Elliot like this. Where he was most definitely terrifying and had his fair share of scary moments before… this was utter madness. Getting beaten by Aubrey and the Hooligans practically shoved him off the slippery slope, and he cracked as a result. Now, he was a monster fully realized.</p><p>“You know what I hate most of all, Sunny? It’s when dirty, special little snowflakes like you and that bitch over there ruin everything! Had we had our fucking way all those centuries ago, we’d be trouncing over filth like you as much as we please!” He took one cold look at Sunny, and kicked Sunny clean where the wound was, which Sunny had only begun to realize had just about to heal.</p><p>Sunny spat a little bit of blood onto the wood of the pier. It was then that Seamus spoke up. “Elliot, c’mon, we were just gonna rough him up a little… That’s what you said…”</p><p>Elliot turned his head almost ravenously towards Seamus. “<em>You wanna join him?</em>”</p><p>Seamus and Jackson both froze up a little, as Elliot turned back to Sunny. “That’s what I thought. Now, as for <em>you</em>…”</p><p>“TOUCH HIM AND I’LL KILL YOU, YOU HEAR ME?!” Aubrey shouted in his direction, to which Elliot snarled at her like a tiger.</p><p>“Enough out of you…” He growled, about ready to turn right around to her with the knife, to which Sunny shouted back.</p><p>“IS THIS WHAT ELSIE WOULD’VE WANTED?!”</p><p>Silence, all around the hangout spot as Elliot stopped dead in his tracks. “…what did you say?”</p><p>“…Is this what Elsie Hemlock would’ve wanted?”</p><p>Elliot turned around to Sunny, and for a moment in his eyes, Sunny could swear he saw a small tear in his eyes. A look of fear, a look of despondence, as if he was held by his neck in a choking grip and begging for release.</p><p>A look that faded and was replaced with a scalding fire. His teeth bared as he walked over to Sunny, and stared him dead in the eye. His pupils shrunk to almost mere pinpricks as he grabbed Sunny by the waist, lifting him up over his shoulders. He had such a herculean grip over Sunny as he stood looming over the edge of the pier.</p><p>“Don’t… ever… speak… her name… TO <strong><em>ME</em></strong>!”</p><p>With that scream, he threw Sunny as high as he could towards the lake, landing with a resounding thud on the cold, hard ice.</p><p>For a moment, there was silence as everyone gazed at each other. Seamus and Jackson veering right behind Aubrey while Elliot glared at Sunny.</p><p>And then, small, silent sounds of cracking… as Sunny fell under. The cold water consuming him as the ice broke underneath him, dragging him in.</p><p>Aubrey let out one loud scream, “NO!”, as she saw Sunny fall into the ice, which cracked even further from the weight of the impact.</p><p>That was when Seamus and Jackson had enough. Seamus untied Aubrey’s bindings as he muttered, “Go. Get him out of there.” Aubrey ran as fast as she could towards the watery crater, as before Elliot could react, and as much as he was going to, Jackson slammed him to the ground.</p><p>“YOU FUCKING JUDAS! LET GO OF ME, YOU… I’LL KILL YOU ALL!” It was all Elliot could froth out of his mouth before Seamus muffled him with his hand, holding him as hard as he and Jackson could.</p><p>Aubrey reached the crater in due time, as she could barely see Sunny at all amidst the watery pit below her. “Hang on, Sunny! I’m coming!”</p><p>Sunny could barely hear a word, as all sound ceased to be except for his grunting and struggling to break free of his bindings, or at the very least, trying to swim up. But the water was so cold. He felt his body beginning to lose its circulation, barely feeling the energy to even move. He was beginning to fear he was gonna die under there.</p><p>Every struggle and forceful movement of his body was arduous and painful to do, all while his energy continued to drain.</p><p>Sunny could’ve sworn he saw a light through the opening of the crater, and maybe someone or something staring down at him, but it was hard to tell.</p><p>Then, Sunny saw nothing at all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Commencement</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny finds himself in a distant world, and marching through to its final defense.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Another chapter with music, and just before the final battle! :D<br/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGnfFW-vyzU</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sunny floated in space for a while, floating between planes of infinity and nothing deep within the boundaries of his mind. He was everywhere and nowhere, as far as his mind was concerned. He could hear voices and silence, but what else he could hear was a blur.</p><p>He felt gales of wind, and the light of candles gust upon his face as his eyes opened. He found himself within a shadowy, crumbling library of sorts. The locale seemed familiar to Sunny, but to what extent, he doesn’t know.</p><p>A voice called to him, a voice like Basil’s, but much younger. "Welcome back, Sunny. It's been some time, hasn't it?"</p><p>That was when it clicked. "Dream Basil...? What are you doing here? Where is this?"</p><p>Sunny saw the younger, more petite version of Basil smile towards him as more small gusts of wind burrowed amidst the decaying library. "You're back in the Lost Library. Of all the places that were destroyed when Headspace fell, this place remained... as a symbol of some kind. As for myself, I am mostly here to help you relax and to reflect... in case you need it."</p><p>Sunny rose from the ground, surveying the broken-down Lost Library as he recalled how he got here. Last thing he felt was ice and water, then nothing. It was like nothing had happened at all, but yet, he couldn’t shake it off, like a faint memory.</p><p>Then he realized why he was there. Omori.</p><p>He saw the piano right near the wall of the library. He could faintly see a shadow seeping from beneath its hinges, as if the wall itself didn’t belong there. At all. He knew what he needed to do. To stop any more of this madness, as he started taking steps down the stairs and towards the piano.</p><p>"The hollow wall near the piano... it will take you straight to Omori himself... Sunny... you're going to challenge Omori, right?" Dream Basil asked of him.</p><p>After a small sigh, he glared determinedly at the hollow wall, no longer shy or fearful of the challenge up ahead. "Yes, <em>I am</em>."</p><p>Dream Basil looked up to Sunny, then down to his feet. "Before you go, I will give you some advice regarding him... He's not happy with you after you revealed the truth to him... and he's unwilling to play fair. He will most certainly play dirty in order to kill you. You mustn't be caught off guard."</p><p>Sunny looked back at Dream Basil, as he just noticed the stab wound covering Dream Basil’s chest. Omori must’ve done something terrible to him.</p><p>"With the last of my energy, I bestow to you... a gift. It will serve you well against Omori."</p><p>And just as the words left his mouth, Sunny found armor and a sword. The very same from his dreams, cloak, helm, and everything.</p><p>"But... what about you?"</p><p>Dream Basil grimaced solemnly, clutching his chest, right at the gashing, bloodied laceration. "I'm afraid that... my time is coming to an end, Sunny, just like everything else here. I used my energy in order to escape down here... to a place that Omori couldn't find me, so I could give these to you. These are the strongest forms of The Armor and Sword. With these, you will stand a chance against him... and you may be able to put an end to him - Once and for all."</p><p>A small tear left Sunny’s face. He knew this needed to be done, but he would be lying if he didn’t admit he’d miss it all a little bit. “I know what I need to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.”</p><p>Dream Basil smiled passionately and encouragingly at Sunny. “Yes, you do. You’ve made it this far, haven’t you? You’ve even fought against Omori before and subdued him.”</p><p>He left a hand on Sunny’s shoulder. “Fear is a concept that can be both our greatest asset and our greatest adversary. But whatever the path you take it, you can’t let it control you. You’ve seen what it’s done to you in the past to let it control. It’s time to let the past die. There, new memories can be formed in its wake. But that is all up to you. Use it well, will you?”</p><p>A stutter in Sunny’s breath left his lips. "Thank you, Dream Basil... I-I'll use these well..."</p><p>The two embraced in a small, short, but comforting hug. Dream Basil broke it off after a small bit of time, stepping away from Sunny as he saw his body begin to shed into ash. "The hollow wall near the piano... It will take you straight to Omori himself..."</p><p>As Dream Basil stepped further and further away, Sunny asked one last thing. “Omori’s plan… It was never to possess me at all, wasn’t it?”</p><p>“From a certain point of view, perhaps it was. But I think deep down, you’ll know the answer. Only you know Omori better than anyone else.” Dream Basil smiled his last smile. “Oh, and Mari might’ve stopped by for a moment to gift you something from the beyond. You’ll find it on the piano.”</p><p>Sunny glanced over at the piano, and on there sat a record player with a vinyl with a sticker on it from Mari: “For my brave knight - Mari”</p><p>“H-How did this…” Before he could finish his sentence, Dream Basil faded away into nothingness, his ashes flying away with the petals of the white egret orchids.</p><p>Knowing now he was now completely alone, he took the record, and put it into the record player that begun automatically, as if it had been waiting to play for years. Sunny looked over to his armor, and took hold of it as the song began.</p><p>“Young man came from hunting faint, tired and weary</p><p>What does ail my Lord, my dearie?</p><p>Oh, brother dear, let my bed be made</p><p>For I feel the gripe of the woody nightshade”</p><p>Sunny strapped on the chain mail first, resting it firmly over his body as he felt his defenses firmly rise as he put it on, looking towards his gauntlets.</p><p>“Men need a man would die as soon</p><p>Out of the light of a mage's moon</p><p>But it's not by bone, but yet by blade</p><p>Can break the magic that the devil made”</p><p>The gauntlets latched onto his arms as Sunny clasped his fingers together in a fist twice, testing how well they fit into his hands.</p><p>“And it's not my fire, but was forged in flame</p><p>Can drown the sorrows of a huntsman's pain”</p><p>Next were the leggings, as they too slipped on like a glove. Sunny tapped his soles together, as the steel of the armor clinked comfortably, almost pumping him up.</p><p>“This young man he died fair soon</p><p>By the light of a hunter’s moon</p><p>'Twas not by bone, nor yet by blade</p><p>Of the berries of the woody nightshade”</p><p>The armored breastplate came on to him like putting on a shirt, as he already felt his strength bolstering with every second he was armored.</p><p>“Oh Father dear lie and be safe</p><p>From the path that the devil made”</p><p>Finally, after slipping his helm on, and the sword and its scabbard belted across his chest, Sunny draped the cloak over his armor, as it magically seamed itself perfectly akin to the armor in his dreams.</p><p>Sunny placed his hand towards the hollowed wall, as it faded into ash as well. As did the rest of the Lost Library.</p><p>With one small breath, Sunny, all decked out in armor and his sword, steps through the wall, and falls forward in a leap of faith.</p><p>He felt the cold of the wind getting more and more harsh against his face as he landed on the ashen ground. Snow trickled in the black sky as he saw a field of his most horrifying apparitions, all gazing towards him as they slithered towards him. They hissed towards him.</p><p>“Fear the dissenter… He has betrayed us…”</p><p>Before they could lay a hand on him, Sunny struck them both down with the sword, unsheathing it from its scabbard as it was strong enough to set them ablaze with a beheading swipe, vanishing into ash as the embers burrow into the ground, starting a fire behind Sunny as he marched forward.</p><p>More and more apparitions hissed beckoned their way towards him, and Sunny fell them all the same, with none of the fear he would’ve previously held for them.</p><p>Sunny finds himself marching through the snowstorm as the fire bellows from behind him, ascending the massive stairs that lead to where Omori is waiting for him. He could see the religious statues just judging him, as if expecting him to make a decision.</p><p>He steadies his breathing, and glances to his blade. He dedicated himself to this mission. He will take down Omori. Even if it kills him. If Sunny's death means that Omori will finally be taken away once and for all... so be it.</p><p>To Sunny, it matters not what his fate is. He only knows what the task ahead entails.</p><p>Eventually, Sunny reaches the top of the mountain as the realm behind him starts to tumble away into ashes. He reaches what looks like a cathedral, styled akin to that of a castle.</p><p>It was the Cathedral of Omori.</p><p>He marches across the bridge, atop a very deep drop to the abyss below, as he gazes upon what appeared to be a log book, most likely Dream Basil’s, after crossing it.</p><p>“<em>The dark and twisted manifestations of Omori given form, the aptly named Cathedral of Omori is named after Headspace's malignant god as the cathedral itself is a dark and treacherous place, with Something growing all around it, seeping in as if they were overgrown vines in a dilapidated building.</em></p><p>
  <em>This nightmarish place is guarded by Omori's loyal followers, who worship their dark god, seeing him as their messiah, the one who will allow all of headspace to fully "transcend" upon reaching the world outside of Headspace, and become gods just like him. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Of course, this is merely but a fool's errand - Such efforts will be met naught with success, but certain erasure and destruction. Yet, they continue to cling onto those foolish beliefs...</em>
</p><p><em>In the hopes that one day, their god will finally transcend and bring them all salvation</em>.”</p><p>At this point, it was becoming all too clear what Omori wanted. He wanted to exist amongst the living, and he was willing to do anything necessary to have it.</p><p>Not if Sunny had anything to say about it. With one sharp kick to the doors, he barged them open, as they resounded with a deafening boom across the cathedral. Sunny marched inside, determined to do what he set out to do.</p><p>They all seek to stop him, to deny him audience with their messiah.</p><p>But he doesn't quit - Nor will he stop. He continues to go forth... cutting them down as they descend before him, a symbol of Sunny finally facing his fears.</p><p>Sunny realizes that it's not as scary as it looks. He thinks back to Mari's words... and uses them as a guide. A way to stay calm in the face of adversity.</p><p>Whilst Omori is just waiting to finally ascend from the Dream World atop his throne... and begin his corruption of reality.</p><p>Omori was even dressed in robes as well. He views himself as a <em>god</em>.</p><p>A god of corruption, of order, of emptiness.</p><p>He wishes to break free from the bindings that restrict him from finally transcending into the world beyond... and bringing his will with him.</p><p>Either way, Sunny fights his way through... because he knows that if he falters now, Omori wins. Omori will take over... and corrupt everything. And him accepting himself will all be for naught.</p><p>What Sunny will face when he barges through those doors will mean life or death. The two will fight one last time. One fighting to move on from the sins of the past and to find peace with his inner self, to be free of the hell that has permeated throughout his life, and to let the past die. To kill it if he has to. And the other fighting for survival, for comfort amongst himself within the realm of dreams. Fighting to exist, even when it errs against everything.</p><p>This... means everything to Sunny.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Just wanna give a special shoutout to my friend NicoTheCinderace for her assistance in helping me plan the finale of the story out and sending me ideas. Some of the dialogue present here is actually hers, as well! She's a dear friend of mine, and I cannot begin to thank her enough. &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. OMORI - The Hollow King</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <b> You were a fool to come here, Sunny. <b></b></b>
</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The battle begins. And with that, music!</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rdt5XNvPkc</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“<strong><em>OMORI!</em></strong>”</p><p>The shout resonated throughout the cathedral halls, as the congregation of scribbled creatures and apparitions all gazed towards him, in judgment. Sunny veered forward towards the center, leering at Omori, who sat cradled against his throne in deific robes, still monotone and unemotional as usual.</p><p>From the crowd, Sunny could hear chanting. Soft, quiet chanting, all of it unable to be recognized for its true meaning, but for the few who could, it spelled doom for Sunny.</p><p>“Timent dissentit, nam Ipse est mala. Puer luminis timere, quia non dereliquit nos. Timent dolosus qui habet in mentiti sunt nobis. Puer adoremus tenebris, Omori, quia amor et ejus nobis. Adorate Deum, Omori nam et protector noster est verum. Omori adoremus dilecto et adiutori nostro: non enim est sanctificatio nostra."</p><p>“<strong>Look who's come crawling back at last. Have you finally prepared to give up now, Sunny?</strong>" Omori snarled in Sunny’s direction. “<strong>Or will you be another dogged contender like you always were?</strong>”</p><p>"Much to your disappointment, no, Omori. I have not. I'm done taking orders from you."</p><p>"<strong>Pathetic as always. You refuse to acknowledge my part in your safety, and then you reveal to me what a liar you truly are for using me for all these years. But... I can forgive and forget if you'd give in to me. Your suffering will end at last</strong>." Omori leans out his hand in his direction.</p><p>"...By causing more suffering to everyone else in the process. You would have me locked away in a reality where you're in control, all while you wreak havoc on the real world, not just to me, but to those I love, all for what? Don't you understand? Even paradise is a prison if you can't so much as leave. I'm not letting you go any further, Omori."</p><p>Sunny unsheathed his blade, and took a fighting stance. Omori growled, almost in jest, but also in disappointment.</p><p>"<strong>What, do you really think you can stand a chance against me? How did it work out for you the last time?</strong>"</p><p>"I don't <em>think</em> I can stand a chance... I <em>KNOW</em> I can."</p><p>Omori sighed defeatedly, pulling out two knives as he discarded his robes, letting them crumple on the floor near his throne.</p><p>"<strong>Fine. Your resistance bores me, much less humiliates yourself. I'll put an end to you once and for all.</strong>"</p><p>Omori descended from his throne and onto the center of the cathedral, as all of the scribbled thralls took watch of the two beginning their battle, chanting all the same words they had been brainwashed to speak. It was all they ever knew now.</p><p>Omori made the first move, dashing towards Sunny with his two knives, to which Sunny parried with the sword, and shoved him away with it. Sunny slashed away at Omori with it, of which Omori tried to dodge, but not without a few cuts.</p><p>Omori planted one of the knives into the ground, slashing it out upwards as a wave of hair-like spikes seeped out of the ground with a deafening, woman-like scream. Sunny just barely managed to avoid it by rolling to the side, causing the attack to crash clean into a row of the congregation, turning them to ashes. Not like Omori would’ve cared.</p><p>Sunny charged clean at Omori with the blade, to which Omori parried with one of the knives. “<strong>Useless.</strong>” He muttered in a sneer, swiping back at Sunny with the other knife, striking clean at his chest.</p><p>Sunny clutched his chest after that swipe, seeing small droplets of blood fall against the floor. Omori glared. “<strong>You’re nothing to me now, Sunny. A useless exegete swimming lost and alone in the seas of blood and death, with no one to shepherd you.</strong>”</p><p>Glaringly, Sunny got ANGRY and rushed Omori as hard as he could, sending flurry after flurry of swipes from his sword, with all his might. One of them successfully connected, as the shockwave was enough to rupture a hole in one of the walls of the cathedral, killing a few of the scribbled congregation in the process, leaving ash to scatter about within the church.</p><p>Omori scowls, and tries to erase the enemy, sending wave after wave of red hands after him in rapid succession. But Sunny was ready, slicing through and bisecting each hand coming for him, all leading into a jumping slash from Sunny towards Omori. While Omori dodged it, the shockwave from that attack was enough to not only kill more of the congregation, but to also go as far as to cause the church to shake a little.</p><p>The church began to fall apart just a little more, as some of the rubble kills the remaining sects of the congregation, sundering them to nothing more than ash.</p><p>“<strong>Damn you, Sunny. <em>Damn you.</em></strong>” Omori mustered, as he attacked with further sweeps of his knives, to which Sunny parried to the best of his ability. Omori isn't playing around, and Sunny knows it.</p><p>“I’VE HEARD ENOUGH FROM YOU, OMORI!” Sunny shouted as he struck Omori clean in the chest with the sword. Omori was a few seconds too late to dodge it, as it scrapes at his tank top, causing a cut against his chest.</p><p>Omori, seeing the wound against his chest, could only bare his teeth at Sunny. Now he too was ANGRY. FURIOUS, even. A heartbeat echoed throughout the halls of the cathedral, indicating how much longer Headspace had left to live. “<strong>You want to play roughly? Fine, I’ll entertain your games for just a little longer. Just some time to see how deep this moronic little charade can muster. I’ll show you rough.</strong>”</p><p>With a snap of his fingers, a miasma of scribbles surrounds Sunny. Three of them at once, all shielding Omori, before dissipating. And out came the fictionalized, dream versions of Kel, Hero, and Aubrey, all corrupted, with their smiles horrifically wide and their eyes gouged out. The skin on their bodies heavily saturated and bloodied with ink, as if they were drawn horribly in crayon. There was nothing but an endless abyss in their eyes as they giggled in their very same voices that Sunny knew them for in the real world, when they were kids.</p><p>"<strong>PROTECT YOUR MESSIAH! STRIKE DOWN THE HERETIC, AND LET US ASCEND TO THE HEAVENS AT LAST!</strong>"</p><p>With brute force, the dream trio all charged at Sunny. All bearing knives of their own as they struck at Sunny repeatedly, with no mercy.</p><p>As they repeatedly tried to cut Sunny down, he could hear their voices muttering near him, all distorted and unhinged, like if blood was coagulating deep in their vocal cords.</p><p>“FOR THE MESSIAH, FOR THE HEAVENS...”</p><p>“FOR THE MESSIAH, FOR THE HEAVENS...”</p><p>“FOR THE MESSIAH, FOR THE HEAVENS...”</p><p>Sunny’s helm began to crack at the seams, as one of the knives’ edges poked itself right near his face. He was getting constantly barraged by the blades, feeling blood start to seep out of the wounds as they all attacked erratically.</p><p>No, Sunny wasn’t going down like this. With all his power, he shoved the trio off of him, and with one swing of his sword, Sunny destroys all of them in one fell swoop, rendering them to ashes in the wind, destroying what was in essence Omori’s last line of defenses.</p><p>The shockwave of Sunny’s swipe killed the last of the congregation, leaving the church empty but just the two of them. Then the ground between them started to crackle, and soon enough, it was no longer able to support them any longer, as it shattered like glass beneath them as they too fell into the abyss. The remains of the church faded into ash as Sunny saw what peered into the sky. A red sky permeated above them against a long liturgy of hands, as all of Headspace began their destruction above the two combatants.</p><p>What awaited Sunny where they’d land? Only time would tell.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. OMORI - Hell is in the Heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <b> Cease your resistance, Sunny. <b></b></b>
</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Second phase of the fight? Second phase of music!<br/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nOFxtekHAo<br/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsY955NbXec</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The two descended into the depths of the abyss below as what remained above them disintegrated into nothingness.</p><p>Until Sunny landed on what looked to be stairs amongst a sky of blood red, surrounded by massive red hands in all contortions and sizes. It was all too clear what this place was, as Omori stood at the center of a throne of hands.</p><p>This was Red Space.</p><p>
  
</p><p>From far beyond the two of them, only vague outlines of Headspace’s central areas could be seen, crumbling, and beginning to fall to ash into the abyss. Omori stood from his throne, only one red knife in his hand now as he stares Sunny down, before descending from his steps.</p><p>Sunny remained on his guard, sword aimed in a defensive position as Omori ran towards him, black lightning bellowing like the firing of a gun near them. Omori made the first call, trying to trip Sunny by sweeping at his legs. But Sunny knew better, as he jumped away from it, kicking Omori clean in the face as he fell a few steps down, impaling his sword into the stairs to keep him from falling further down.</p><p>Just as he pulled the sword back up, Sunny felt as if his blood was magnetically pulled towards Omori, as he flew right for him out of his control.</p><p>Omori was using VERTIGO, pulling Sunny up to him as he stared him dead in the eyes, with Sunny seemingly unable to fight back. Sunny felt the armor pressing against his skin as Omori’s hand clenched into a fist, before shoving him back down the steps even further.</p><p>As Sunny neared where he was originally before Omori’s move, it became all too apparent what Omori was doing. He was playing dirty. Trying to rattle him into fearful submission.</p><p>Omori’s body became coated with red, similarly to their first ever fight after the incident at Basil’s house.</p><p>Before Sunny could try and strike again, he felt his body slow down to about the speed of a tortoise, as if submerged in quicksand without any means of getting out. Omori used CRIPPLE on him, drastically reducing his speed to almost near-nothingness as Omori strangled Sunny, tossing him further down the stairs.</p><p><em>How is he doing this?</em>, Sunny thought to himself, <em>There’s no way I’m beating him if he’s gonna fight like this! How am I gonna get a hit on him?</em></p><p>Sunny could only watch as Omori walked further down the steps, nearing Sunny’s position as he could only watch as his adversary struggles to fight back against him, dodging every swipe Sunny had for him.</p><p>Omori responded in kind, attacking Sunny twice, with feeling. Striking him before throwing Sunny backwards behind him with ease.</p><p>Sunny’s gambits were becoming progressively desperate as he pressed on, trying almost everything under the sun to get just one swipe in on Omori, even if it’d do next to nothing. Just one swipe at him to try and see where he was vulnerable so he could capitalize on it. But for every attempt he made, Omori had an answer for it. It’d be funny if it weren’t so humiliating.</p><p>Amidst another volley of attacks from his adversary, Sunny had to ponder in thought about what his next move would be.</p><p>He knew that Omori was playing cheap just to get any semblance of a victory out of him, using moves and caveats that would almost count as cheating. But why? While Sunny so far had the higher ground, Omori was holding his own rather efficiently in spite of any odds Sunny had against him.</p><p>It was senseless, seeing every attack Sunny had planned for Omori be countered too easily, without a sweat. An upward slash? Omori countered with the red knife just near his shoulder, before another use of VERTIGO. Trying to counter Omori’s swipes with the knife? CRIPPLE, slowing him down so that he couldn’t even raise the sword defensively in time.</p><p>Trying to lead into a stab from the sword? SUFFOCATE, having his defenses maimed like a parasite eating at him from the inside.</p><p>It was getting ridiculous, seeing Omori respond effortlessly and egregiously towards every attack Sunny had for him. But Sunny noticed an opportunity presenting itself as he kept attacking more and more.</p><p>Omori’s relentless attacks and unfair power creep exposed a major flaw. Like the game of chess against Kel and Hero, they were leading the pawns into a death trap in a full-frontal assault on their forwarding guard, exposing their defenses.</p><p>That’s when Sunny plotted his next move.</p><p><em>If I’m gonna win against Omori, I’m gonna have to play like him.</em>, Sunny planned in his mind, readying himself to enact on it.</p><p>Omori readied his next attack, as red hands began to encircle Sunny, striking four times in rapid succession as Omori veered closer towards him. The red hands were serving as a distraction, hiding Sunny from what Omori was prepping.</p><p>But little did Omori know that Sunny was ready for this. As the hands started coming down on Sunny, he grabbed onto the hilt of his sword with both hands and commenced a spin attack, slitting the hands as they fell into the abyss, revealing Omori’s slice away at the helm, shattering it into two.</p><p>Sunny, using the ample time granted to him, punched upward against Omori’s stomach as his helm broke into pieces, and sliced up against Omori’s chest, knocking him down to the ground. Sunny pointed his blade’s edge towards Omori, his face scowled into a determined growl.</p><p>After a while, Sunny has the upper hand, as Omori is bruised and scraped badly with wounds from Sunny's weapon.</p><p>"Enough fighting back, Omori! You've lost!"</p><p>Omori glares at Sunny, consumed by rage and hatred as his eyes carry a soulless, nightmarish look of indignation and a forthcoming frenzy. He growled ferociously at Sunny.</p><p>"...<strong>I will tear you down with every fiber of my body left in me. I will flay your corpse like snakeskin. I will force you to watch as every touch of malice I can give to you mutilates you atom by atom. I will destroy everything you hold dear just as you did to me. But it's like what you've said, paradise is a prison if you can't leave. I have held you close to me like a brother, but it seems all you see in me is a monster, even when I have repeatedly done my damnedest to do what's best for the both of us. I see now... that I have no choice</strong>."</p><p>Omori slashes straight down his arm, and out seeps black blood, with Something's eye swimming alongside it as Omori's body begins to mutate. His arms begin to convulse and perambulate as the skin begins to flay, revealing mass legions of eyes, all dark-red and starting venomously at Sunny. His legs begin sprouting tendrils of black hair en masse, surrounding Omori like the legs of a tarantula. His neck engorges as his eyes roll back, fangs growing as Something's eye slithers out of his mouth, a terrifying hiss leeching out of this nightmarish beast's mouth like a legion of cobras.</p><p>Sunny could only watch in horror as Omori transfigured himself to whatever in the hell this abomination was, resembling practically every nightmare Sunny could ever think of all at once into this hellish creature.</p><p>By the time it was done, Omori was barely recognizable.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. OMORI - Ecdysis</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Little brother... I love you.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm sure you all know where to play these. &lt;3</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMShUxeF6tY<br/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io0zFbQqAUg<br/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBIJFTPPp-8</p><p>And credit for the picture goes here! https://www.reddit.com/r/OMORI/comments/m442hk/hopeful_sunny/</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The monster loomed oppressively over Sunny, who could only look back in horror at the creature that was Omori.</p><p>"<strong>Look what you've done to me, Sunny. Look what you're making me do.</strong>"</p><p>Sunny wasn’t just AFRAID. He was far past STRESSED OUT.</p><p>Sunny is <em>TERRIFIED</em> upon seeing the beast Omori has become. His hands were shaking rapidly as the eye of the beast keeps gazing down upon him.</p><p>Unfortunately for Sunny, his fear allowed the beast to strike him down, wailing on him with everything it had, every successive attack just happening one after the other. It was complete suffocation of Sunny’s life force.</p><p>“<strong>I can sense your fear, Sunny. You are terrified of what you see before you, and yet you’re the cause of it. You wanted a monster, so you’ve gotten a monster.</strong>”</p><p>Sunny was smashed repeatedly into the ground, as the sound reverberated throughout the space, as more lightning crackled repeatedly throughout the dearth of land below. He could feel his health being ripped clean out of him with every second.</p><p>“<strong>You will know no lesser pain than the crevice of hell you’ve been sorrowfully plucked out of from conception. Every waking second for you will render you in ceaseless agony as I rip, and cut, and mutilate your friends. Again, and again, and on, and on. You will be left behind in the waking world, left to die as you should have a long time ago.</strong>”</p><p>Omori roared loudly, before rearing his bladed, beastly arm back, and tried to ram it through Sunny’s abdomen, which Sunny only just blocked in the nick of time.</p><p>Sunny tried to FOCUS and hone his blade towards the feral monstrosity, but Omori parried his feeble attempt, leaving Sunny even more terrified. His own body felt like it was failing him.</p><p>It became clear with every strike of the nightmare that nothing Sunny could do would even leave a tiny dent in him, much less an abrasion. It was routinely overpowering him.</p><p>"<strong>Try all you'd like, Sunny. But you won't be able to stop me. So do me a favor, and JUST. DIE.</strong>"</p><p>Omori erases the enemy…</p><p>IT HIT RIGHT IN THE HEART!</p><p>Sunny crumples to the ground weakly as his breath fails him, he feels closer to death with every second. He would only be known as the foolish hero who dared to fight Omori multiple times and failed each and every time. This was it. His last breath. He nearly loses consciousness…</p><p>But he doesn't.</p><p>Sunny closes his eyes... and remembers his friends. He hears their voices from within their battle, motivating him.</p><p>From the beyond, he hears Kel’s voice.</p><p>"You can do this, Sunny! You've done it before, you can do it again!"</p><p>Basil’s voice.</p><p>"That monster's tormented us both for far too long! Give it what's for Sunny! We know you better than it does!"</p><p>Hero’s voice.</p><p>"Don't give up now, Sunny! We believe in you!"</p><p>Kim’s voice.</p><p>"A friend of Aubrey's is a friend of mine! I've got your back! If Aubrey loves you, then I KNOW she chose the right person for a friend!"</p><p>Vance’s voice.</p><p>"We may have had our... disagreements before, but that won't stop me from supporting you in your time of need, Sunny."</p><p>Angel’s voice.</p><p>"You seriously gonna let some <em>thing</em> walk over you? C'mon, you're stronger than that, Sunny!"</p><p>Charlene’s voice.</p><p>"...Don't give up, okay...?"</p><p>Mikhael’s voice.</p><p>"Don't you DARE falter now, Sunny! Not when you've come so far! On behalf of The Hooligans, I, THE MAVERICK, WILL GIVE YOU THE STRENGTH NEEDED TO SLAY THIS FOUL DEMON!"</p><p>Mari’s voice.</p><p>"Little Brother... I love you. Let's end this together, shall we...?"</p><p>He hears one last voice. One specifically for him.</p><p>Aubrey’s voice.</p><p>"Don't let that MONSTER win, Sunny! I love you with all my heart, you got that?! <em>DON'T YOU DARE LOSE!</em>"</p><p>Sunny listens to everyone's words of encouragement... and finds a renewed strength!</p><p>Sunny did not succumb.</p><p>Sunny's hope will not waver!</p><p>Sunny recovers all his strength!</p><p>All of Sunny's stats rose!</p><p>
  
</p><p>Sunny became HOPEFUL.</p><p>Sunny's blade begins glowing with a radiant light... as he stands up, staring Omori right in the eyes.</p><p>“<strong>...how...?</strong>” Omori muttered, completely aghast at the display.</p><p>“It’s simple, really. You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.” Sunny smirked, a newfound confidence overwhelming him, as Omori charged towards him.</p><p>“It was you who brought me here.” Sunny countered the swipe from Omori’s claw, striking at the beast’s maw, right in the mouth where Something’s eye resided, causing Omori to gash blood from his mouth.</p><p>Omori snarled viciously, charging again.</p><p>“You gave me the strength I needed to seek the truth.” Sunny countered the attack again, lobbing off the beast’s arm as Omori roared in agony.</p><p>“You led me to finding my own salvation.” Sunny mocked, a small smirk across his face as Omori roared again.</p><p>“I am here now. Because of <em>you</em>.”</p><p>It was then, that Sunny learned a new skill. His sword shone brighter, until it was almost pearlescent in its glow.</p><p>Shining Strike.</p><p>With one swirl of his blade amidst his palm, Sunny clanged the blade against the ground, and out came ghostly visages of his friends. Not the dream variations. The <em>real</em> ones.</p><p>Aubrey. Basil. Kel. Hero.</p><p>They may not have been the real deal, but they were the real friends that Sunny has learned to cherish, as they all stared down into the whites of the beast’s eyes.</p><p>Sunny pointed his sword towards Omori, and the apparitions began to charge towards it. Aubrey swinging at Omori with her bat multiple times in a row, before knocking Omori up into the air... where Hero comes in and whacks him with the pan multiple times, followed by Kel bouncing his ball around and smacking him multiple times over...</p><p>...Before it concludes with Sunny swinging with all he's got in order to defeat Omori once and for all.</p><p>And then, just when Omori charges one last desperate attack, Sunny swerves behind him, grabs him by the waist, and does the unthinkable.</p><p>"Get. out. of. my. <strong><em>SIGHT!</em></strong>"</p><p>Sunny shoves Omori down the stairs. With every tumble, Omori returns to normal, even going back to his regular attire, as he hunches on the ground in defeat.</p><p>The cycle was complete. What started with stairs, will end with stairs.</p><p>Sunny walks up to the Throne of Hands, as he plunges the sword near it before sitting himself down, brooding his head low not solemnly, but victoriously, hand clutching the hilt of his blade in victorious exhaustion. A true king and heir to the throne.</p><p>Headspace crumbles to ruin more and more with every second, every trace of it being burned to ash in the sky, the stairs near the throne falling into the mired pit below as Omori crawls to Sunny, turning to ash himself. He was dying, as tears slipped from his cheeks.</p><p>"You must learn to forgive yourself, Sunny. It's the only way."</p><p>Omori climbs against Sunny's legs, crying into his chest as Sunny... embraces him. Omori whispers into his arms.</p><p>"<strong>Please... I don't want to go... I-I don't want to go... S-Sunny... Please...</strong>"</p><p>Sunny could do nothing but provide the warmth of his embrace as solace to his alter, all while he slowly dissipates near him. Omori looks to Sunny apologetically, in almost a sense of vanity.</p><p>"<strong>I... I love you...</strong>"</p><p>Omori fades away into ash before his eyes, scattering in the air without a trace of him left. Sunny's arms move to his sides as he hugs himself and breathes slowly, a tear of relief trickling down his face.</p><p>He was finally free.</p><p>Sunny opened his eyes once more. And all he was surrounded by was white. This wasn’t White Space, nor was it reality, and neither was it the afterlife.</p><p>It was just his own mind.</p><p>And in the distance near Sunny’s throne was Mari, smiling warmly at him. “Knew you could do it, Sunny.”</p><p>Sunny rose from his throne, as his armor fell and dissipated into ash from his body, alongside the sword, as he clung onto his sister in a warm hug.</p><p>“I miss you, Mari… So much…” Sunny whispered, feeling the catharsis from everything he’s done.</p><p>“I know you do, Sunny. I miss you too. And I always will.” She looked behind him, seeing what was happening in the real world, as Aubrey and the gang gathered around Sunny in the real world, all while Hero proceeded to attempt resuscitating him, Seamus and Jackson holding Elliot down and tying him to the tree, all while Jackson calls the police. “But I know people who will miss you more.”</p><p>Sunny looked to his behind, and saw what Mari saw. The sight was both relieving, and harrowing to watch. Sure, they were able to get him out of the water, but seeing them in such worried states, fearing for Sunny’s life, especially Aubrey’s case, who was soaking wet from getting him out of the water, pleading for Sunny to wake up.</p><p>Sunny broke off the hug with Mari, once again feeling at a crossroads. “I don’t want to leave you.”</p><p>“But I’m pretty sure you don’t want to leave them either.” Mari corrected him, knowing how much it hurts to have to say goodbye once again.</p><p>Sunny shed one more tear down his cheek, the guilt rearing its head one last time. “Will I ever see you again…?”</p><p>Mari smiled reassuringly. “When the time is right, of course you will. But for now, I’ll still be watching over you.”</p><p>Mari looked behind her, then back to Sunny. “I have to go. You’ll know what to do, Sunny. You’re on your way. All you just need to do is be there for them. The rest will follow.”</p><p>And with one last little wave, Mari was gone. It was all on Sunny now.</p><p>And Sunny marched towards the group, lying alongside the facade of his body, as Sunny felt people pressing into his chest, the voices of the gang becoming more and more present.</p><p>At least Sunny would be able to rest easy in the real world.</p><p>For he was free.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Forgiveness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sunny finally sees himself for who he really is.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is dedicated in loving memory of my mother (4/13/69 - 7/11/18) and my father (2/25/69 - 11/26/19), as today would've been my mother's 52nd birthday. Miss you guys. &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sunny could feel his chest being pressed by Hero’s hands, anxiously and in almost clear desperation. Sunny was still relatively unconscious, having just come back to reality.</p><p>“C’mon, Sunny, w-wake up… Please…” Hero mutters feverishly, almost on the verge of tears as everyone eyes him, worried or despairing like Aubrey, who was still freezing cold from having swam under subzero degree water, nearly praying for her boyfriend to wake up.</p><p>Elliot was still tied up to the tree, as the police and medical services were nearly on their way to their location. He was practically snapping further with every passing second, after having Seamus and Jackson betray him when they realized what Elliot was purely trying to do.</p><p>“I-I thought we were together… g-guys…” He weakly chuckled, an almost-insane twinge in his voice as he eyed his former friends with murder in his eyes. “I thought we were gonna get the f-freak…”</p><p>“Takes one to know one, ‘Boss’.” Seamus sneered at him.</p><p>“Now shut your damn mouth if you know what’s good for you.” Jackson followed up, as they walked away from him, knowing there was next to no way he was getting out of that. And just to be sure, they snatched his knife and plopped it into the water, never to be seen again.</p><p>While that happened, Hero kept trying his best at CPR. Gently pumping Sunny’s chest with his palms and applying oxygen through Sunny’s lips. Kel and Basil said nothing, because really, what could they say? Seeing their best friend in a near-death scenario, in what was now the second time Basil’s seen Sunny in such a bad position, was heartbreaking as it was terrifying. It felt like they were witnessing a repeat of Sunny having nearly drowned in the lake as a child. At this rate, that lake was practically cursed, or at the very least, a bad omen.</p><p>Aubrey… poor Aubrey. Nearly risking her own life as well just to save her boyfriend from death amidst hypothermia-inducing water… and he’s not responding. He just lied there, without a second of movement. Any sign that he was okay. Her own anxieties and insecurities tore away at her on the inside, thinking this was punishment for everything wrong she did to him when he first came out of that house. For every hand she’s laid against him. For any thought of him that wanted to hurt him for what happened to Mari. If it would mean him waking up, she would take it all back. She knew as of recent that the monster she feared Sunny to be back then was not him at all. That deep underneath him was horrible trauma that refused to let him go, muffling the sweet, adorably boy she knew. Why would these horrors <em>always</em> happen to him?</p><p>In the distance, they finally heard the sirens of the medical services, who took over from there. Hero led the paramedics to Sunny’s position, where one of the paramedics placed a hand to his neck, checking his pulse.</p><p>“It’s there… But it’s faint. We’ll take over from here.” One of the paramedics said, taking over Hero’s position on the CPR, with Hero assisting her on the procedure.</p><p>The paramedics and Hero continued to try and resuscitate Sunny, and while they were feeling his pulse start to grow slowly, it still wasn’t prominent enough to confirm that Sunny was conscious.</p><p>They kept going at it as much as it took, as the entire group was on the verge of tears, growing more afraid with every second that Sunny was not gonna make it. He just wasn’t responding to anything at all. And it was getting to a point where the paramedics were starting to lose hope. Aubrey and hero just stood there, wordlessly wrecked with guilt and dread at the possibility that Sunny was going to die.</p><p>That was, until a few moments later, where Sunny finally coughed out the stray water from his lungs, his breathing strained but slowly returning to normal, as the paramedics were just about to give up. It visibly shocked the entire people there, but nonetheless relieved them. Sunny looked to the gang and the paramedics, still trying to regain his senses. “G… Guys… What are you all d-doing here…?”</p><p>It was the biggest wave of joy they could’ve ever felt, as Aubrey ran over to Sunny and hugged him, crying on his shoulder as the two of them were cold to the touch and still soaking wet. “I’m so sorry…! I’m so sorry…”</p><p>Kel, Hero, and Basil all joined in on the hug, all allayed enough to not even remotely care about getting a little wet themselves from the ice water.</p><p>The paramedics supplied warm towels to Aubrey and Sunny both, as the two of them laid against each other’s shoulders, all while Kel and Basil stayed right with them. Hero took a side detour to Elliot’s position however, as he was panting aggressively in a spiteful manner towards everything that’s transpired. Hero didn’t even bother emoting any further, but his response definitely showcased a tranquil fury as the paramedics drove Sunny and Aubrey both to the hospital, even if his stay would probably be just for a day, Aubrey accompanying him to keep him from being lonely. Kel and Basil looked at Hero and just went over to Hero’s car, knowing full well what was about to happen.</p><p>Hero looked to Seamus and Jackson, as they stared back solemnly. They knew they were just as guilty as Elliot was. “Untie him.” He whispered threateningly. “<em>Now.</em>”</p><p>To see Hero, the nicest guy in all of Faraway, pissed off… that was when you know you fucked up. They untied him without a second’s hesitation, keeping him down on his knees for good measure. Hero kneeled right down to Elliot’s gaze, an almost scarily empty look in his eyes as Elliot began feeling AFRAID. “Why’d you do it, Elliot?” He muttered tranquilly, holding back every fist he could possibly lay on this boy.</p><p>“W-What’s it to you, huh?!” Elliot nervously snarked, nowhere near as confident or as menacing now. The jig was up.</p><p>“What’s it to me? Very poor choice of words.” Hero replied back, his scolding tone transforming into a more threatening demeanor. Even Seamus and Jackson were scared. “That was my best friend you just threw into the ice there, Elliot. Do you know how much hell he’s been through?”</p><p>Elliot laughed maniacally, the fear starting to swallow him as his mind was close to shattering. “Why s-should I care? Heh… he’s just a scared little kid in a man’s world… W-We have no tolerance for weakness, now do we…?”</p><p>Hero’s mouth started to snarl, like a tiger bearing its fangs. “Funny, I could say the same thing about you. A scared little husk, using privilege to mask the fact that you’re scared. You’re pitiful. Preying on people who’ve done nothing to you all because of your sister’s death. Elsie, was it?”</p><p>Elliot’s face contorted into a psychotic fury, just about ready to burst on Hero, but Hero knew. “You think I didn’t know? I <em>grew up with her</em>. I know what your father did, Elliot. And for a moment, I could’ve maybe been able to help you too. But now, all I can say is that I’m disappointed. At you, your compadres, and your bastard of a father.”</p><p>“DON’T SAY A WORD AGAINST MY FATHER, YOU F-“ Hero grabbed him by the chin, forcefully pulling him clean to his eyes. By now, the cracks in Elliot’s raging bravado were shattering once again.</p><p>“I will say whatever I want about your dad, and you will do <em>nothing</em> to stop me. Because he’s all the way in Bayview… and <em>you’re</em> all the way here. You have no help here. And I will make sure that they all know about what truly happened to Elsie. You and your father will lose everything.” Hero snarled angrily.</p><p>“Elsie w-was a skank… A whore who deserved what was coming to her… Hanging around with those filthy snowflakes and freaks… Freaks like you…” He sneered, thinking he got Hero with that remark, when he was purely unperturbed.</p><p>Hero walked away, not wanting to waste any more time on someone who refuses to see his faults. It was almost tragic how deep in his father’s shadow he was in.</p><p>Elliot, however, made one fatal mistake. “…AND THAT BITCH NAMED MARI!”</p><p>Hero stopped firmly in his place, his back to Elliot as those words echoed in his mind. But then he turned around. Hero was FURIOUS as he walked back towards Elliot ferociously, who had not even remotely processed how horrid his words were.</p><p>With one smash to Elliot’s jaw and an uppercut clean to his gut, Hero grasped tightly on Elliot and slammed him to the tree. “Say her name again in that manner, I <strong><em>dare</em></strong> you.”</p><p>He tried fighting back, digging himself further. “W-Wh… ore…”</p><p>Hero threw him to the snow, and just before Elliot could try to flee from him, Hero stood on top of his back, slamming his head to the ground. "...Perhaps you'd like to think twice about what you're saying, lest you perhaps want to see Mari in person? I'm sure she'd <strong><em>love</em></strong> to meet someone like <strong><em>you.</em></strong>"</p><p>“S-She’s a b-“ Hero rolled Elliot on his back, punching him clean on his nose twice until it started bleeding.</p><p>"Well? <strong><em>What's it gonna be, Elliot?</em></strong>"</p><p>"N-no... no more. Please..."</p><p>Hero grabs him by the coat and hoists him up to his eyes, a burning rage glaring into his soul that imprinted itself into Elliot’s mind. "<strong><em>WHAT WAS THAT, ELLIOT? DID I HEAR SOMETHING? PERHAPS YOU SHOULD SAY IT LOUDER!</em></strong>"</p><p>Elliot has become STRESSED OUT and TERRIFIED all at once. "P-PLEASE! PLEASE! I'M SORRY! I-I WON'T TALK ABOUT MARI LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN! A-AND I'LL LEAVE HIM ALONE! I SWEAR! J-JUST PLEASE...! NO MORE!"</p><p>Hero threw him back against the tree, scaring the living shit out of Seamus and Jackson, who at this point, ran for it. Hero once again raises him by his coat, looking deep into his eyes. “<strong><em>Listen closely, Elliot, and listen well. You are to never go near Sunny, Aubrey, or the rest of us ever again. You will leave Faraway and never look back as long as you live. Or I’ll make sure you take the front row seat to hell myself.</em></strong>”</p><p>"H-huh...?"</p><p>"<strong><em>You want to live? Just leave. I don't want to see you around here again. You understand me?</em></strong>"</p><p>Elliot nods, rather fearfully. Hero, deep down, hated the fact that he let his rage take control of him for a moment, but given how his close friend was nearly killed under his watch and the perpetrator was right there, hopefully Mari would forgive him. Elliot just stared at him, in total shock and fear.</p><p>"<strong><em>Leave before I change my mind.</em></strong>"</p><p>And with that, Elliot fled the lake instantaneously, leaving not a single trace of himself behind. He was gone from the naked eye as Hero finally joined Kel and Basil in his car, clutching the wheel tightly as he took a deep breath.</p><p>“You’re terrifying when you’re angry, y’know that, right?” Kel stuttered.</p><p>Hero needed to hear that, as he chuckled a little bit and looked back warmly at the two of them. “…Yeah, I guess I am. I’m sorry, guys., let’s go check up on Sunny and Aubrey.” He said, as they drove off to the hospital after them.</p><p>The night passed by as the rest of the gang went to Sunny’s hospital room, where they even got a visit from Sunny’s mother, who cradled her son’s face in worry while thanking Aubrey and the rest of the gang repeatedly, tears flowing repetitively down her face. They all explained the situation to her, while also revealing Aubrey and Sunny’s relationship to her, where she smiled and kissed her son’s forehead.</p><p>As the clock neared 1 AM, Sunny’s mom asked if she could have a moment with her son in privacy, which they all respected and left the room, sitting down on the bench in the hallway.</p><p>Sunny gazed to her, almost remorseful for the whole turn of events. “I… I’m sorry, mom… I didn’t want you to worry…”</p><p>She immediately shushed him calmly. “Sunny, it’s not your fault. I should’ve been there to stop him, and his damned father when you were crying for my help, and now look where it’s landed us… I should’ve been a better mother…”</p><p>Now it was Sunny’s turn to intervene. “You’re the greatest mother anyone could ever ask for.”</p><p>“Sunny, mommy’s lost her job. And I’d rather die than have you go back to that school with those people running around there. I should’ve never put you in that school.” She started to cry. “I-I can’t seem to do anything right, Sunny… w-where are we going to go now…?”</p><p>Sunny looked down. These next few words were going to be surely met with disappointment, but it was worth a shot. “Mom… I know you don’t want me to… But I miss Faraway…”</p><p>She looked to Sunny, not in anger or disappointment, but out of realization.</p><p>“I know what happened to Mari and Dad leaving us weighs heavily on you… And I cannot begin to express enough how sorry I am for being the cause of all of your suffering, mom. But… I won’t force you to pack up everything and place us back here… J-Just please don’t be mad…” Sunny whimpered, about ready to start crying himself, as his mother caressed her arms around him.</p><p>“Oh, Sunny…” She breathed heavily, the two of them overwhelmed in tears. “…I miss Faraway too…”</p><p>The two of them hugged for several minutes, as his mother spoke once more. “You can rest now, Sunny… You were never a monster in my eyes, and not a single thing you may have done to Mari could change that…”</p><p>Sunny was shocked, still crying on her shoulder. “Y-You knew…?”</p><p>“I’m your mother… Of course I knew… And I love you more…” She smiled weakly, but still empathetically. “And Mari does too…”</p><p>Sunny grabbed onto his mother’s waist in a hug once more, as the two stayed that way for almost twenty minutes more. The gang walked in, and joined them in their hug.</p><p>Sunny let out the last of his tears, looking towards Aubrey, who gently laid her head on his shoulder, kissing him softly. At last, Sunny lied against the pillow of his hospital bed, knowing now that every remaining anchor of the event had been released from his soul.</p><p>Sunny looked at himself in the mirror nearby, and for the first time in his life… he didn’t see a monster.</p><p>He saw Sunny.</p>
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<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Respite and Appeasement</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>At the end of the road, lies the forefront for new beginnings.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is it, ladies and gentlemen. The finale that has long been coming. Let's finish the journey, shall we? &lt;3</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-USK4bykABw<br/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCOveYTjJKM</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sunny’s mother arrived at the cemetery, as the rest of the gang came in tow alongside Sunny, the days having come and went. The sunlight bathed across the snow fields as she reached Mari’s grave.</p><p>Sunny slowly accompanied his mother as she knelt before Mari’s grave. A teary-eyed smile creeping on her face as she saw Mari’s tombstone, placing a wreath filled with flowers amongst the grave.</p><p>“Hey, baby girl… It’s mommy…” She whispered out as the gang watched her. Aubrey and Sunny held each other’s hands comfortingly while Kel, Basil, and Hero watched in silence.</p><p>“If you’re listening to this, M-Mari… wherever you are… know that there is not a single second that goes by when I’m not thinking of you. And no matter how hard it hurts to see you go… I know you’re watching over me and Sunny… And I love you so very much…” She was struggling further to let the words out, but finished on a good enough note as she backed away.</p><p>Hero was next, as he hesitantly walked towards the grave of his lover. After collecting his breath, he was finally able to muster what he wanted to say. “H-Hey, Mari… I know this hasn’t been the first time I’ve visited here… Heh, you’ve probably grown sick of hearing my voice so often…”</p><p>He let out a tiny, somewhat forced chuckle, before continuing on. “I just wanted to let you know that Sunny’s safe now… I’m doing everything I can for him, just like you would’ve wanted me to… Much as it hurts that I can’t have one more moment to hold you in my arms and to kiss you like we did years ago… I know you’re in a better place now, wherever that’d be… And we’ll be okay, we always have… I love you, Mari…”</p><p>He couldn’t hold it in anymore, as tears started to trickle down his face as well. Kel walked over, and hugged his brother from behind softly, before he got his turn.</p><p>“Hi, Mari… I hope you’re doing well. I know I haven’t… come here much… but I want you to know that I miss you just as much as everyone else does… We’re all one big family, right…?” Kel muttered, able to hold back as many tears as he could, but they all knew he was still affected by the situation.</p><p>Aubrey walked up next, and was already struggling to speak. “M-Mari, I… I still can’t believe you’re gone… I-It feels like just yesterday you were right here with us…” Her breath began to repress, her throat already beginning to feel strained, in which Sunny gently patted her on the back lovingly, kneeling as he wrapped his arms around her. The words finally came to fruition. “…But I know you’re here with us in s-spirit… And don’t worry about us… It’s like what Hero said, w-we’ll be okay… We’ve got Sunny here…” She gently smooched Sunny’s cheek before rising herself up, Basil kneeling near Sunny.</p><p>They nodded to each other, as Sunny draped his arm comfortingly around Basil as he spoke. “O-Oh, Mari… Words can’t begin to describe how sorry we both are for what we did to you… I-It would hurt every night to close my eyes and think about what I did to s-save Sunny from w-what people would think of him… But I know you’ve forgiven us… And all we can say is… t-thank you for everything…”</p><p>Sunny was last up, as he sat there, looking at the grave, ostensibly somber but in truth finally having let the weight of everything loose from his shoulders. “I did it, Mari… But now I know that I was never alone from the start… I had you to help me from the beginning…” He started to cry once more, but a smile pursed his lips. “I hope you find some peace… Or y’know, some happiness… Just don’t forget about me, okay?” Sunny smiled sweetly, as his mother gently hugged him tight when he rose from the ground. “Let Elsie know she can rest now…”</p><p>“She’d be so proud of you.” His mom whispered, touched by the entire event.</p><p>“I know, mom.” Sunny whispered back, letting the warmth of her arms simmer slowly, not even noticing Aubrey doing the same.</p><p>“You’ve come so far, Sunshine. And I’ve never been so happy for you.” Aubrey whispered, looping her arms around Sunny. “You’re the bravest person I’ve ever known, and I mean that.”</p><p>“You are too, don’t sell yourself short.” Sunny smiled at her, hugging her back.</p><p>Basil joined in on them. “Never have I ever been happier than with you guys.”</p><p>Hero smiled alongside Kel. “Does this mean group hug time?” Kel spoke, all while Sunny and Aubrey nodded.</p><p>Sunny’s mother sounded off. “Gather around, everyone. Group hug time.”</p><p>They all did so immediately, gathering around Sunny and wrapped up together in one of the warmest group hugs Sunny had ever partaken in. He was in the happiest of moods right now, and nothing would’ve ever stripped him away from it. Sunny’s mom even broke off to take a photo of the experience. It’d be one she’d never forget, neither her nor her son.</p><p>Hours passed, when Sunny was packing his things within the trunk of his mother’s car, including his gifts. Much as Sunny hated to leave once again, he knew that he couldn’t stay forever. He took one last look at Kel’s house before glancing at the group all standing near him, smiling at him. Even Hector joined in, clearly wanting to say goodbye to his new best friend and playmate.</p><p>Sunny walked forward, as his mom smiled from inside the car’s front seat. She let him have his moment, as even she took in the sights of Faraway at wintertime. She could feel the sense of nostalgia, as if everything was almost back to normal. A new normal, one could even say.</p><p>Kel mustered a smile, but his mouth squiggled a bit as he could feel himself begin to tear up. “M-Man, it feels like just yesterday when you showed up…”</p><p>“Time does fly, doesn’t it?” Sunny said, a warm smile on his face, comforting Kel.</p><p>Hector yipped happily towards Sunny, who gently petted his furred forehead, as Hector now whimpered affectionately at the remark. “Good boy, Hector. Take good care of Kel and Hero for me, okay?”</p><p>Hector barked happily, as if in agreement. “And Sally too.” He barked again.</p><p>Hero chuckled sweetly. “We’re so glad you came to see us, Sunny. And we’re so proud of you every step of the way.”</p><p>Sunny’s smile widened just a little bit more. “Don’t sell yourself short, Hero. You’ve been doing great yourself as well.”</p><p>He beamed as he heard the praise. “Ah, shucks… Now you’re really sounding like Mari.”</p><p>“Well, I’ve been taking notes.” Sunny chuckled, as he, Kel, and Hero entered another group hug, plus Hector as the dog nuzzled Sunny’s face.</p><p>Breaking off the group hug, Sunny then approached Basil. “Hey, gonna be okay with me not being here for a while? If you need anything, call me.”</p><p>“A-Aww, hehe, I’ll be alright, Sunny… I mean, I got everyone else right here.” Basil smiled, nervously but still with enough honesty to prove it to Sunny. Sunny smiled back, and gently kissed Basil on the forehead, as a platonic act of gratitude, as Basil stood there in awestruck shock, all with a dreamy smile on his face.</p><p>Aubrey giggled seeing her boyfriend so affectionate. She loved him for that. Sunny smiled as he approached her. The others nodded and stepped back for a bit, as Basil giggled cutely in Sunny’s direction, still red in the face and waving lovingly at him.</p><p>“Heh, you seem like quite the big shot now. You sure you’re the same Sunny I went ice skating with?” She smirked, playfully punching him in the arm.</p><p>“Aww, c’mon, you yourself said sharing is caring!” He chuckled alongside her as they both hugged immediately after, dropping all sarcastic pretense and verbiage.</p><p>Sunny’s mother was especially touched. She knew they were in a relationship, but seeing it for herself in her car, watching the puppy-dog crush from his childhood finally transform into something more was just too sweet for her to pass up the opportunity to glance.</p><p>“I love you, Sunny.” Aubrey whispered into his ear. “Don’t ever forget that.”</p><p>Sunny could feel himself begin to tear up a bit, but he smiled at her in her face as their foreheads were nearly touching. “I’d give you the whole world if I could, Aubrey. Every single star in the skies and flower in the meadow would be yours and yours alone. All it costs is your love.”</p><p>Aubrey was visibly blushing, touched by such a moving sentence. “Luckily for me, I have the exact asking price.”</p><p>The two kissed one last time. No interruptions, no unfortunate events to get in the way. A pure, earnest kiss between two lovers free of the demons that burdened them beforehand. Everyone watching was free to smile enthusiastically at the display. Sunny had officially grown up, and they all couldn’t be any happier for him.</p><p>Once the kiss was done, Sunny and Aubrey hugged once more. Sunny whispered back, as happy tears started to drip from his cheeks. “I promise I’ll be back for you. I won’t be gone for long.”</p><p>Aubrey smiled earnestly, tears slipping from her face as well. “Don’t make a girl a promise you can’t keep.”</p><p>“You know me. When I make a promise…” Sunny muttered, but Aubrey finished his sentence off.</p><p>“You keep it. I do know how to pick them.” Aubrey giggled.</p><p>“Lucky me.” Sunny smiled back at her, once again embracing her in another kiss.</p><p>Once they were done, Sunny waved them all goodbye as he entered his mother’s car as she started the engine. She looked to Sunny. “I am so proud of you, Sunny. We’re gonna make things right, I swear on it.” She looked down at the papers saved on her lap, all of them containing every single indictment that could be made on the Hemlock family, especially Elliot and his father.</p><p>Sunny sighed calmly, already feeling the sting of not being in Aubrey’s arms. “Are you sure this is gonna work, mom? They’ll fight us tooth and nail.”</p><p>“Then we’ll go down together, like we always have.” She stared at Sunny seriously, before cradling her son’s face in her arms. Sunny responded in kind with a hug, gently comforting his mother.</p><p>Once the hug finished, Sunny’s mother started to drive away from Kel’s place, it becoming nothing more than a distant blur in the backlands of the street. Sunny lied back in his chair, but not a moment too soon was Aubrey riding up to Sunny on her bicycle, right near the window. Sunny rolled it down, enthused to see his girlfriend having rode up to him so quickly.</p><p>“Just thought I’d stay by you until you left town!” She giggled sweetly.</p><p>“By this rate, you’d be following us back to Bayview!” Sunny laughed, staring lovingly into Aubrey’s eyes. “It’d be a road trip out of this town. Sure you want us to take the long way?”</p><p>“If it means I get to look at you for a second longer… hell yes.” Aubrey smiled warmly, kissing Sunny on the lips once more as the car and the bike kept at a steady pace.</p><p>Yes, indeed. They took the long path out of Faraway, but Sunny didn’t care. As long as he got to see the love of his life for just a second more, he was happy.</p><p>The road ahead of him was going to be long and arduous. Bumps were bound to happen on the road to making sure everything was sublimely going to connect in ways that he would’ve never even remotely considered, with all sorts of twists and turns that would’ve been quite the detour. It was a long journey ahead, one that most heroes would’ve been caught dead trying and failing.</p><p>But Sunny was ready. He had the greatest weapon of all. A sword that’d cut through even the thickest of vines and the most dangerous of beasts. It was an adventure that was bound to go wherever the road ahead may take him.</p><p>But Sunny was ready.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>
    <span class="u">The End</span>
  </strong>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And with that, Snow has officially come to an end.</p><p>I honestly cannot begin to describe how amazed I am at how well this did. Truth be told, I was ready for this to get a little bit of flak for being yet another shipping fic in a long line of ones that are most assuredly better than my own. And I know that my own work is far from flawless in a few places. But I know I can't sell myself short, I am honestly proud of this, and can genuinely say all the accolades and praise this series got was a humbling experience for me, where I learned how to start giving my own work some love, no matter what avenue it comes from, especially when I remember this was originally going to just be a one-off, one-shot story. But I won't lie, brainstorming and conceiving all these ideas for Snow has been an experience, one that I'm not gonna forget anytime soon.</p><p>And rest assured, this is not the end of my ventures in work on here, as I have plenty more planned for down the road. Hell, I might start serving up some more Sunburn or just simple Omori fan works in the future! You have definitely not heard the last of me!</p><p>But with all that said, thank you all so much for reading, and please take care. &lt;3</p>
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